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THE GENERALIFFE. 



THE 



Alhambra and the Kremlin, 



THE SOUTH AND THE NORTH 
OF EUROPE. 



BY 



SAMUEL IREN^US PRIME, 



AUTHOR OF "TRAVELS IN EUROPE AND THE EAST. 






NEW YORK: ^ 
AxVSON D. F. RANDOLPH & COMPANY, 



770 Broadway. 



iTHE LIBRARY 
or CONGRESS 

WASHINGTON 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, by 

ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH AND COMPANY, 

In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



0^ 



Ipress 0f 

JOHN WILSON AND SON, 

Cambridge. 



^iitbfiTj of 

ROBERT RUTTER, 

82 and 84 Beekman St., 
New York^ 



TO 



MRS. E'LOUISA L. PRIME 



THIS VOLUME 



IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED. 




The South and the North of Europe are 
contrasted in this volume. Not by any- 
formal comparison of the morals and 
manners, the institutions and condition 
of the peoples in different latitudes, but 
by candid statement and description, I 

have sought to give a fair view of life as it is in Spain 

and Scandinavia. 

Since the journey was made, the Queen of Spain has 

fled, and the Emperor of France has perished from 

among men. But the social life of the nations remains 

the same from age to age. 



VJll PREFACE. 

The Alhambra Is a type of the South. The Kremlin 
Is a symbol of the North. Both of them are fortresses 
enclosing palaces : the glory of Spain In ruins, the pride 
of the North In Its strength and beauty. 

Vague and Indefinite ideas of these wonderful edifices, 
and of the countries they represent, have been enter- 
tained by many, who may find in these pages pictures 
of things as they are, which the wrlte^ trusts are faithful 
and portable. 




I: Ml I; 



f flmoBSKflsinD 



The Generaliffe Frontispiece, 

Bridge, Gateway, and Cathedral of Burgos i6 

The Cid 17 

The Escorial 22 

The Royal Palace, Madrid 40 

Toledo 54 

The Alcazar 59 

Cordova 82 

Court of Oranges, Cordova 87 

The Great Mosque, Cordova . 89 

" La Geralda," Seville 93 

She wept and told her Beads . 96 

The Bull-Fight loi 

The Picador 106 

In the Alameda, at Malaga 118 



The Diligence 125 

Outer Wall of the Alhambra 130 

Portion of a Door 138 

The Vermilion Tower 142 

The Alhambra 156 

Geneva and the Rhone 166 

Merle d'Aubignd 167 

D'Aubign^'s Birthplace and Residence 169 

Lausanne, and the Lake of Geneva 17' 



X LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGB 

Castle of Chillon 173 

The Lake and City of Geneva 175 

Cathedral and Platform at Berne 182 

On the Lake of Thun 184 

Pilatus, Lake of Lucerne 190 

Monument to the Swiss Guard. {By 1 horvaldseti) 195 

Tell's Chapel, Lake of Lucerne 198 

Swiss Horn Blowers 211 

Peasants of Eastern Switzerland 212 

Female Costumes in Appenzell 217 

Death of the Chamois 231 

On the Rhine 241 

Aix-la-Chapelle 245 

Frankfort Dining-Table 269 

Polish Peasants 283 

Scene at Railway Station 294 

A Rainy Day in a Russian City 309 

Street Scene in a Russian City 315 

A Russian Porter 321 

The Kremhn 331 

Plan of the Centre of Moskva City 335 

The Russo-Greek Service 342 

Helsingfors 383 

Stockholm Steamers 396 

Upsala 413 

Costumes of Sweden 421 

Roxen Locks 435 

Travelling in Carioles in Norway 457 

Palace of PVederiksberg 462 

A Domestic Scene in Denmark 469 

Fagade of the Thorvaldsen Museum, Copenhagen 471 

Portrait of Thorvaldsen. {By Horace Vertiet) .... ... 473 

Hamburg 480 

Home Again 482 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

GRANADA. 

Page 

Lodgings at the Alhambra. — Restoration. — Webs of False- 
hood. — The Sierra Nevada Mountains. — Fruits. — Progress 
of the Peasantry. — The Moors. — Adam's Visit to Spain. — 
Expulsion of the Moors. — Decline of the Empire. — Rail- 
roads. — Mines. — Early Settlers. — Iberians. — Phoenicians. — 
Goths. — Moors. — Waning of the Crescent. — Capture of 
Cordova. — Flight of the last Moorish King i 

CHAPTER II. 

OUT OF FRANCE INTO SPAIN. — THE BASqUE PROVINCES. 

Biarritz. — Chateau Eugenie. — Dangerous Coast. — Breakwater. 

— The Virgin's Partiality. — Bathing Grounds. — Couriers. — 
Antanazio. — His Honesty and Zeal. — Crossing the Boun- 
dary. — Island of Conference. — Spanish Courtesy. — The 
Basque Provinces. — Peculiar Customs. — Ancestry. — The 
Language. — Spanish Stupidity. — La Fayette. — St. Sebas- 
tian. — Duke of Wellington's Sack of the City. — Bull-ring. 

— Likeness of the Country to Switzerland. — Physique of 
the Inhabitants. — Productions. — Industries. — Primogen- 
iture. — Tolasa. — Vittoria. — Wellington's Victory. — Mi- 
randa. — Roderick, the last King of the Goths 6 

CHAPTER IIL 

BURGOS. — THE ESCORIAL. 

A sleepy Town. — Origin of the Name. — Fusion of the Crowns 
of Leon and Castile. — The Coffer of the Cid. — Swindling a 
Jew. — Moorish Lies. — Hotels. — A Change of Base. — The 
Cathedral. — Statues. — Carvings. — ^''erdict of Charles V. 
and Philip II. — Devil beating the Railroad. — Carving by 
Nicodemus. — Miracles. — Castle. — Engineer hoisted by his 
own Petard. — Burgos Taverns. — Philip II. His Character. 



Xll CONTENTS. 

— Conception of a Palace, Monastery, and Tomb. — The 
Escorial. — Dimensions. — St. Lawrence. — Turning-point of 
his Life. — Description of the Palace. — Death of Philip IL — 
Mausoleum. — The Segrario. — A toe-ta.1 Loss. — Cellini Cru- 
cifix. — Library 15 

CHAPTER IV. 

MADRID. — A SABBATH AND A CARNIVAL. 

A polyglot Valet. — Missionary Schools. — Foreign Chaplains. 

— The Church Militant. — Upper Chamber. — Religious In- 
tolerance. — Inquisition. — Persecution. — Spanish Sabbath. 

— Devotion. — Infidelity. — The Prado. — Bull-ring. — Wine 
Shops. — Frolicking. — Dancing. — Cheap Wines. — Carni- 
val. — Costumes. — Politeness. — Maskers. — Ancient Belle. 

— Hobbling Monk. — Pope. — Natural Goose. — Devil. — 
Orang-outang. — General Abandon. — Religion and Folly. 

— Good Humor 29 

CHAPTER V. 

MADRID. — PALACE. — BANK. — PICTURE-GALLERY. 

Napoleon's Epigram. — Royal Palace. — Cavalry. — Military Pa- 
rade. — Plains of Castile. — Armory. — Swords of Gonzalo 
de Cordova, Ferdinand, and Charles V. — Armor of Boab- 
dil. — Revolvers. — Mighty Men of War. — Toledo Blade. — 
Stables. — Spanish Horses. — Merino Sheep. — Royal Equi- 
page. — Crazy Jane's Carriage. — Her Effigy. — Mischievous 
Display. — French Language and Influence. — Slow Coaches. 

— Cheap Labor. — Architecture. — Banking-house. — Bank of 
Spain. — Repose of Manner. — Gold at last. — Railroads. — 
Post-office. — Personal Identity. — Rebel General. — Lost Let- 
ters. — Telegraphs. — Progress. — Picture-gallery. — The 
Immaculate Conception. — Vision of St. Bernard. — Christ 
sinking under his Cross. — Equestrian Portrait of Charles V. 

— Titian. — Correggio. — Mary in the Garden. — Bias del 
Prado. — Hidden Gems. — Murillo. — Material and Ideal 

Art 39 

CHAPTER VL 

TOLEDO. — ITS FLEAS, LANDLORDS, ANTiqUITIES, AND LUNATICS. 

Progress. — Hotel Lino. — The wicked Flea. — Easy Manners. — 
Breakfast. — Model Landlord and Waiters. — Toledo Butter. 



CONTENTS. Xlll 

— City set on a Hill. — Monuments of departed Peoples. — 
Romance. — Architecture. — Oldest Citj in the World. — 
Mjthic Founders. — Perfidy of Roderick. — Reign of the 
Archbishops. — Decline of Power and Glory. — Cathedral. — 
Descent of the Virgin. — A fair Penitent. — Orthodoxy of the 
Priesthood. — Burning of the Missals. — The Muzarabe. — 
The dead Lion better than a living Dog. — Eloquent Epitaph. 

— Honors paid the Virgin. — The Alcazar. — Derivation of 
Mango. — Spanish Pride. — Peacocks. — Foreign Impres- 
sions. — Moorish Gates. — San Juan de los Reyes. — Thank- 
offerings. — St. Florinde. — Cave of Hercules. — Legend of 
the Cid. — Cafe. — Toledo Blades. — Virtues of the Tagus. — 
Sword of Boabdil. — Lunatic Asylum. — Don Quixote. — 
Crazy Editors. — Statistics. — Causes of Insanity. — Spanish 
Slowness and Temperance. — Sophomores 53 

CHAPTER VII. 

LA MANCHA. — ANDALUSIA. 

Smoking. — Cigarettes at Dinner. — Taking Sanctuary. — Retort. 
— Tobacco Culture. — Cuban Monopoly. — Chewing tabooed. 

— Early Smoking. — Children and Ladies. — Tobacco Fac- 
tory. — Cigareras. — Flavored Cigars: — Potash. — Soda. — 
Opium. — Intemperate Clergyman. — La Mancha. — Don 
Quixote. — Treeless Landscape. — Sheep. — Corn. — Primi- 
itive Ploughing. — Husbandry. — Primogeniture. — Lands 
of Church and Crown. — Agricultural Schools. — Period- 
icals. — Sierra Morena Mountains. — Cautious Engineer. 

— Manzibar. — Pickled Chicken. — Moving on. — Perfumes 
of Arabia. — Resting-place. — Transatlantic Indigestion. — 
Andalusia. — Ignorance and Crime. — Government Educa- 
tion. — Statistics. — Salamanca. — Influence of Climate. — 
Population. — The Aloe and Olive. — Oranges and Lemons. 

— Hills of Andalusia. — Sheep 69 

CHAPTER VIII." 

CORDOVA. 

Cleanliness. — Paved Streets. — Bridge over the Guadalquiver. — 
Age of the City. — Wholesale Butchery. — Government. — • 
Mosques. — Baths. — Inns. — Schools. — Library. — Rural 
F6te. — Departed Glory. — Palace of Abdurhama. — Beauti- 
ful Evergreens. — Fruits. — Interior of an Ancient House. — 
Moorish Style. — Cathedral. — Converted Mosque. — Gate of 



XIV CONTENTS. 

Pardon. — Court-jard. — Orange Grove Fountains. — 

Gold Fish. — Elders in the Gate. — The Mecca of Europe. — 
Holy Shrine. — Symbolism. — Indulgences. — Bronze Orna- 
ments. — Inscription in Gothic and Arabic. — Dimensions. 
— Precious Stones. — The Mihrab. — The Kalif's Oratory. — 
Mosaics. — Devout Mussulmans. — Chapels. — Etching on 
Stone. — Impressive Monuments 8^ 



CHAPTER IX. 

SEVILLE, ITS CATHEDRAL AND BULL-FIGHTS. 

Delicious Climate. — Customs. — Exile of the Moors. — Conse- 
quent Decay. — The Alcazar. — Barbaric Splendor. — A 
Christian Kmgdom. — Cathedral. — A House of God. — 
Giant Columns. — High Mass. — Unconscious Worshipper. 

— Beautiful Women. — Venus-worship. — Port of Saville. — 
Fruits. — Don Juan. — Barber of Seville. — Murillo's House. 

— Mosaics — .Moorish Castle. — Auto-da-fe. — The Qiiema- 
daro. — Field of St. Sebastian. — Circulation of the Bible — 
Tow^er of Gold. — Treasure House. — Prison. — Bins of Gold. 

— Decline and Fall of Spain. — Demoralizing Influences. — 
Corruption and Robbery. — Yellow Fever. — Guadalquiver. 

— Amphitheatre. — A Delicate Lady. — Warlike Husband. — 
Her Description of a Bull-fight — The Ring. — Spectators. 

— Trumpet-blast. — Picadors. — Entrance of the Bull. — 
Charge. — Horseman — Terrible Sight. — Chulos. — Ban- 
derilleros. — Squibs. — Matador. — Applause. — The Ladies. 

— Different Tastes. — Squeamish Husband 92 



CHAPTER X. 

SEVILLE. 

La Caridad. — Art Treasures. — St. John. — Miracle of the Loaves 
and Fishes — Moses striking the Rock. — Recovery of Pic- 
tures at Waterloo. — Fi'ench Thieves. — Venus de Medici. — 
Thoughtful Amateur. — Museum Fees. — Guardian Angels 
of Seville. — Martyrdom. — Murillo's Pages of the Gospel. — 
Old Masters. — Decay of Art. — Bull-fighting. — The Sea- 
son. — Exaggeration. — Curious Development. — Effect on 
the National Character. — Street-plays. — Feats. — Demoral- 
ization. — Spanish Pride. — Morality. — Contrast between 
the North and South of Europe. — Costume of Andalu- 
sia. — Fashion. — Life of the People. — Price of Labor. — 



CONTENTS. XV 

Food. — Climate. — Beer. — Wine cheaper than Water. — 
Sack. — Intemperance. — Physical Circumstances. — Social Bur- 
dens. — Beautiful Trait. — Obedience. — Veneration of the Aged 107 

CHAPTER XI. 

MALAGA. 

An ill Wind that blows no Good. — Curious Excuse for Crime. — 
Old World like the New. — Resort for Invalids. — Genial 
Clime. — Range of Thermometer. — Mineral Waters. — Sun- 
shine. — Rainfall. — Heavenly Skies. — Advice to Consump- 
tives. — Grapes. — Raisins. — Wine and Oil. — A Sabbath. — 
Service at the British Consulate. — Mrs. Partington. — Eng- 
lish Chaplain. — Sermon. — Narrow Streets. — Sweet Mem- 
ories of Cologne. — Picturesque Moors. — Cathedral. — High 
Mass. — Florid Architecture. — Fruits. — Prayer of a Dying 
Moor. — Florinde. — Chronicles of Washington Irving. — 
Luxuries of Travel.- — Diligences. — Out of Malaga. — Obsti- 
nate Mules. — Night. — Mountains. — ; Setting Sun. — Lovely 
Scenery. — Orchards. — Armed Guards. — Gentlemen of the 
Road. — Loja. — Inn. — Flock of Fleas. — A Stimulant. — 
Setting out for Granada. — Santa Fe'. — Its History. — Gra- 
nada at Last. — In the Grounds of the Alhambra .... 118 

CHAPTER XIL 

THE ALHAMBRA. 

The Paradise of the West. — Rivers of Eden. — New Damascus. - 
Granada. — Origin of the Name. — Fruits. — Mountains. — 
Skies. — Moorish Empire broken. — Zawi Ibu Zeyri. — Al- 
hambra. — Meaning of the Name. — Extension of the Castle. 

— Original Grandeur. — Its first Prince. — His Improve- 
ments. — Roads. — Colleges. — Hospitals. — Canals. — Arts. — 
Sciences. — Degeneracy. — Intrigues and Murders. — Ruin. 

— Final Overthrow of Mooiish Power. — Ferdinand and 
Isabella. — Columbus. — Fleas and Cake. — Blessing and 
Gold — New World in the West. — Bookstore. — Irving's 
Tales. — Gate of Judgment. — Plateau. — Desolation. — Court 
of Myrtles. — Court of Lions. — Boabdil. — Abencerrages. — 
Treachery. — Hall of Ambassadors. — Bensaken. — Walking 
Cyclopedia. — Prudence. — Washington Irving. — Dolores. — 
Queen's Garden. — Hall of Two Sisters. — Harem. — Lin- 
daraka Gardens. — Queen's Dressing-room. — Gypsies. — 
Perfume Bath. — Water Bath. — Governor's Court. — Bowed 
Slab. — The Morning Star 129 



XVI CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XIII. 

THE ALHAMBRA {continued). 

The poor Cobbler of Granada. — Spanish Rule of Living. — Xan- 
tippe. — Search for Gold. — Messenger Dove. — Dreams. — 
Landslip. — Fever cured. — Conversion. — The Watch Tower. 
Magic Bell. — Parapanda Mountains. — Reign of Law. — Gift 
to the Duke of "\!Vellington. — Bloodj Pass. — Vega. — Water 
Gates. — The Last Sigh of the Moor. — His Mother's Re- 
proof. — Moorish Race. — Political Prisoners. — Birthplace of 
Eugenie. — The GeneralifFe. — Ancient Tree. — Suspected 
Queen. — Women of Spain. — Sins of Climate 144 

CHAPTER XIV. 

GRANADA. 

Troubadour and Gypsy Life. — Dwarf. — Horse. — Fair. — Physique 
of the Gitanas. — Habits. — Habitations. — Moral Principle. 
Chastity. — Swindling. — Superstition. — Fortune-tellers. 

— Credulity. — Trickery. — Parisian Spiritualist. — Gypsy 
Creed. — Musings. — Causes of Astonishment. — Paintings 
and Cathedrals. — Unworthy Ambition. — Silence in Church. 

— Cathedral of Granada. — Chapel Royal. — Tomb of Fer- 
dinand and Isabella. — Tomb of Philip and Crazy Jane. — 
Obliging Priest. — Fees. — Leaving Granada. — Disguised 
Thief. — Seizure and Imprisonment. — Out of Granada . . 155 

CHAPTER XV. 

GENEVA. — FREYBURG. — BERNE. 

Geneva. — Color of the Rhone. — Csesar's Wall. — Cathedral. — 
Calvin. — Lady Jane Grey. — Rousseau. — Voltaire. — Madame 
de Stael. — Byron. — Jura. — Mont Blanc. — Celebrities. — 
Coppet. — Ninon. — St. Protais. — Lisus. — Morges. — Grand 
Muveran. — Diablerets. — Mont Rosa. — Mont Blanc. — Lau- 
sanne. — St. Anne. — Sacred Rat. — Cathedral. — Convention 
of Reformers. — Gibbon. — Classic Ground. — Chillon. — 
Bonnivard. — Torture Chamber. — Hotel Byron. — Railroad. — 
Ice. — Swiss Valleys. — Freyburg. — Suspension Bridge. — 
Great Organ. — Cathedral. — Wonderful Music: its Power 
and Sweetness. — Berne. — Morat. — Burgundian Custom. — 
Public Bears. — Unfortunate Englishman. — Curious Clock 
Market Women. — Federal Palace. — Swiss Cantons. — Ber- 
nese Alps. — Thun. — Jungfrau 165 



CONTENTS. XVll 

CHAPTER XVI. 

THE BRUNIG PASS. — LUCERNE. 

Pleasant Ride. — Interlaken. — Lakes Thun and Brienz. — Abend- 
berg. — Faulhorn. — Giesback. — Illumination. — Ascent of 
the Brunig. — Vale of Meyringen. — Falls of Reichenbach. — 
Lungern. — Splendid Courage. — Cheap Suffering. — Modern 
Reformers. — Mount Pilatus. — Mjths. — Lucerne. — Popula- 
tion. — St. Leger. — Service. — Crucifix. — A Devotee. — 
Mass. — Organ. — Cloisters. — Lake Lucerne. — Lion of Lu- 
cerne. — Dance of Death. — Striking Scenery. — Gersau. — 
Brunnen. — Bay of Uri. — Sir James Mackintosh. — Swiss 
Patriots. — Chapel of Tell. — Cascades. — Fluellen. — Altorf. 

Captain Lott ' i86 

CHAPTER XVII. 

THE BLACK VIRGIN OF EINSIEDELN. — LIFE IN SWITZERLAND, ETC. 

The Hermit Meinrad. — His Black Virgin. — Murder. — Detec- 
tive Ravens. — Monastery. — Miracle. — Shrine. — Pilgrims. 

— Revenue. — A Barefooted Penitent. — Village Church. — ' 
Fountain. — Gallery. — Abbot. — Hospitality. — Library. — 
College. — Monastic Life. — Adieu. — Pleasant Qiiarters. 

— Meals. — Hotel Life. — John Bull. — A Charming Couple. — 
Americans. — A National Feature. — Slang. — Language. — 
Manners. — An Elegant Lady. — Selfishness. — French and 
Sw^iss Railroads. — Improvements. — Accidents. — Accommo- 
dations 200 

CHAPTER XVIIL 

CANTON APPENZELL. — SWISS CUSTOMS. 

Trogen. — Convent. — Memento mori. — Scenery. — Religion. — 
German Service. — Curious Custom. — Constance. — Mar- 
tyrs. — Dividing Line. — Remarkable Change. — Cause. — 
Pillory. — Evening Bell. — Watchman's Song. — Bridal Cus- 
tom. — Athletic Sports. — Democracy. — Assembly. — Office 
Seekers. — Council. — Roads. — Taxation. — Schools. — 
Foreign Pupils. — Pedestrians. — Moral Culture. — Treatment 
of Women. — Cows. — Farm Work. — Manufactures. — Me- 
chanics. — God's Acre — Graves. — Funeral Ceremonies. — 
Simplicity. — Lonely Burial. — Unpleasing Custom. — Cos- 
tumes. — The Upper Classes. — Refinement and Culture. — 

Manners. — Patriotism. — A Challenge 212 

b 



XVm CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XIX. 

GERMAN WATERING-PLACES. — BINGEN ON THE RHINE. 

A German \yatering-place. — Land of Salt. — Salt Works. — 
Last of the Barons. — Homburg. — Kursaal. — Palace. — 
Gaming. — Kreusnach. — Spas. — Salt Springs. — Cure-house. 

— Kissingen. — Baths. — Cures. — Long Sledge-ride. — 
Princess of Mecklenburg. — Clerical Postman. — Whey- 
cure. — Grape-cure. — Rest. — Rheingraffenstein. — Ebernburg. 

— Relics of Reformers. — French Cannon Balls. — The Bingen 
of Poetry. — The Real Bingen. — Bishop Hatto's Tower. — ■ 
Maiise-thurme. — Southey. — Ehrenfels. — Rudesheimer Vine- 
yards. — Wine-making. — Shallow Soil. — Johannisberg Vine- 
yard. — The Rhine. — Mayence. — Printing. — Guttenberg's 
Statue. — Cathedral 232 

CHAPTER XX. 

PILGRIMAGE TO AIX-LA-CHAPELLE. 

Tomb of Charlemagne. — The Dead Emperor. — Cathedral. — 
Consecration. — Holy Shrine. — Healing Waters. — Palace. 

— Holy Relics. — Remarkable List. — Septennial Exhibition. 

— Sultan of Turkey. — Crowd. — Order and Devotion. — 
Sultan and Suite. — Stolidity. — Priests and Women. — A 
Crush. — Pageant opened. — Procession. — The Relics. — 
Puseyite Priest. — On the Road to Rome. — Superstition. — 
Pictures. — Virgin's Garment. — Modern Style. — Holy Shirt. 

— Other Relics. — Pilgrims. — Revenue. — Waters. — Foun- 
tain. — Music. — Invalids. — Kurhaus. — Social Ease. — 
Baths. — Sulphur Water. — Antiquities. — Tower of Granus. 

— Statue of Charlemagne. — Bust and Skull 245 

CHAPTER XXI. 

FRANKFORT. 

Graveyard. — Childish Plays. — Cheerful Graves. — Grave of 
Goethe's Mother. — Inscription. — Lovely Sentiment. — Cof- 
fin of Goethe. — Wealthy Jew. — Humiliation. — Ancient 
Glory. — Ariadne. — Elegant Cars. — Smokers. — Pine For- 
ests. — Women's Rights. — Beer Drinking. — A Good Ar- 
rangement. — Frnnkfort-on-the-Oder. — Krewz. — Dinner. — 
Gardens. — Scenery. — Nakal. — Bromberg. — Wedges. — At- 
tentive Servant. — Frontier. — Passports. — The Vistula. — 
Poland. — Warsaw 264 



CONTENTS. XIX 



CHAPTER XXII. 



Historic Legend. — The Jesuits. — Partition. — Last Insurrection. 
— Nationality crushed out. — Attempted Insurrection. — De- 
feat. — Warsaw. — Armed Despotism. — Discontent. — Preca- 
rious Prosperity. — Russian Rule and Language. — Fate of a 
Spy. — Consequence. — Russian Soldiery. — Ill-manners. — 
Botanical- Gardens. — Observatory. — Palace. — Sobieski's 
Monument. — Grave Error. — Illumination. — Sti-eets. — 
Drunkenness. — Climate. — Lutheran Church. — Relics of 
Romanism. — Mendicants. — Jewish Quarter. — Hospital. — 
War of Religions. — Statue of the Virgin. — Little Russia. — 
Funeral. — English Cock 273 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

FROM WARSAW TO ST. PETERSBURG. 

Pretentious Hotel. — Splendid Bridge. — Polite Ticket-seller. — 
Cars. — Prairie. — Wretched Peasantry. — Jews. — Railroad 
Employes. — Lap3^ — Mother and Son. — Bialystok. — 
Grodno. — Diet of Poland. — Last King of Poland. — Jewish 
Holiday. — Lithuania. — Plains. — Napoleon's Hill. — Monu- 
ment. — Wilna. — Ruins. — Insurrection. — Babel. — Duna- 
berg. — Captive. — Short Night. — Serfs. — Reform. — Board 
of Arbitrators. — Emancipation. — Pskof. — Lady Smoker. — 
St. Petersburg 284 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

ST. PETERSBURG. 

Searching Process. — Peculiar Costumes. — Rough Streets. — 
Russian Bath. — Dinner. — Model Guide — Elegant Diction. 

— Peter the Great. — Catharine I. — Striking Contrasts. — 
Accommodating Weather. — Palace of the Emperor. — Col- 
umn of Alexander. — Statue of Peter the Great. — Boy Czars. 

— Peter's Lawyers. — Devotion. — Cathedral. — Trophies. — 
Isaac's Cathedral.- — Amazing Splendor. — Worship. — Offer- 
ings. — Holy of Holies. — Behind the Scenes. — Careful Hus- 
bands. — Greek and Romish Churches. — Lent. — Sabbath. 

— Exorcism. — Honors paid the Virgin 293 



XX CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

RUSSIAN ART, CUSTOMS, AND MANNERS. 

Winter Palace. — Ways of Royalty. — Crown Jewels. — Orloff 
Diamond. — Hermitage. — Art Galleries. — Curious Code of 
Laws. — Royal Museum. — Peter's Walking-stick. — Art 
Culture. — Condition of the Masses. — Laborers. — Me- 
chanics. — Prices, — Rent. — Food. — Dress. — Peculiar Cus- 
tom. — Polite Bankers. — Despot. — Justice. — Verdicts. — 
Story of LabanofF. — Siberia. — Abuses. — Academy of 
Science. — Zoological Museum. — Sunset on the Neva. — 
Boatman. — Light at Evening- tide 310 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

FROM ST. PETERSBURG TO MOSCOW. 

American Engineers. — Sleeping Arrangements. — Newspapers. — 
Drama. — Courtesy. — Lubanskaia. — Dinner. — Villages. — 
The Volga. — Murdered Bishop. — Sleeping Car. — Ladder. 

— Russian Jargon. — Pathetic Appeal. — Board. — Refresh- 
ments. — Greek Ecclesiastic. — Patriarch Nicon. — New Jeru- 
salem. — Profanity. — Tyranny. — Revolt. — Pope of the 
North. — Emperor's Slight. — Nicon's Humility. — Banish- 
ment. — Patriarchates. — Dead Level. — Flight of Freedom . 322 

CHAPTER XXVn. 

THE KREMLIN AND THE BELLS OF MOSCOW. 

A Swiss Landlord. — Fleas. — Shrines. — Palaces, Cottages, and 
Churches. — The Moskva. — Circular City. — Kremlin Walls. 

— Gates. — Chief Entrance. — Picture of the Redeemer. — 
Respect. — Cannon. — Miracle. — Splendid Scene. — Tower 
of Ivan. — Bells. — Medium of Worship. — Holy City. —Pil- 
grims. — Bell- making. — Precious Metals. — Silver Bells. — 
Chapel of the Betrothed. — Music of the Bells 330 

CHAPTER XXVIIL 

THE CHURCHES OF MOSCOW. 

Cathedral of the Assumption. — Bones of the Patriarchs. — The 
Iconastasis. — Sanctuary. — Archbishop's Throne. — Coro- 
nation Ceremony. — Tombs. — Cathedral of the Archangel 



CONTENTS. XXI 

Michael. — Religious Freedom. — Churches. — Cathedral of 
St. Basil. — Archangel Cathedral. — Pilgrims. — Golgotha. 
— Sacristy. — Religion. — Holj Oil. — Baptism. — Making 
of the Holy Chrism 340 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

PALACE AND INSTITUTIONS OF MOSCOW. 

Royal Palace. — Empress's Drawing-room. — Empress's Cabi- 
net.— Hall of St. George. — Hall of St. Andrew. —Gold 
Court. — Napoleon's Descent. — Treasures. — Historical Cu- 
riosities. — Precious Orb. — Foundling Hospital. — Mortality 
of Foundlings. — Orphan Asylum. — Sheep's Clothing. — 
Harvest Season. — Jews. — Peasants. — Riding School. — 
Wax-show. — Ethnological Society. — Travel. — Sydney 
Smith's Stick 350 

CHAPTER XXX. 

FROM MOSCOW TO ST. PETERSBURG. 

Commercial Travellers. — Sparrow Hills. — Church of the 
Saviour. — Simonoff Monastery. — Novo-Devichi Convent. — 
The Moskva. — A Holiday. — Napoleon's March. — Borodino. 

— Evacuation of Moscow. — French Enthusiasm. — Triumphal 
Entry. — Surprise. — Incendiarism. — Return of the French. — 
Horrors of the March. — Russian Barbarism. — Public Kissing. 

— From Moscow to St. Petersburg. — Fussy Ladies. — Klin. 

— Dinner. — Tver. — Beggars. — Night without Darkness. — 
The Fussy Ladies again. —Sunrise. — Marriage Customs . 359 



CHAPTER XXXI. 



Americans. — Cronstadt. — Fortifications. — Vessels. — Smoking. 

— Wyborg. — Saw-mills. — Channel. — Ruined Tower. — 
Submission of Finland. — Religion. — Government. — Har- 
vests. — Famines. — Army. — Wages. — Fens. — Lakes and 
Islands. — Drosky. — Huge Stones. — Excursion. — Eden in 
the North. — Serpent in the Garden. — Long Bills. — At- 
tentions paid Strangers. — A Finnish Lady. — Fishermen. — 
A Killing Man. — Gulf of Finland. — Fredericksham. — Sclava. 

— Hard Case. — Social Customs 371 



XXll CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XXXII. 

FINLAND {conthiued). 

Helsingfors. — Sweaborg. — Fortified Islands. — Society House. 

— Ducal Palace. — Finnish Gentlemen. — Senate House. — 
University. — Observatory. — Library. — Literature. — Kale- 
wala. — Schiller and Shakespeare. — Language. — Congress. 

— Coats of Arms. — Botanical Garden — House of Refresh- 
ment. — Health Establishment. — Mineral Fountain — Rocky 
Islands. — Fishing. — Peasantry. — Abo. — Hotel. — Good 
Manners. — Castle. — Cathedral. — Tombs. — Conflagration. 

— Carriole. — Kibitka. — Bondkara. — Finns 383 

CHAPTER XXXIIL 



Harbor of Abo. — Swedish Customs. — Eating and Drinking. — 
Climate.— The Baltic. — Stockholm. — Porters. — Hotel Ryd- 
burg. — Pleasant Quarters. — Scandinavia. — Odin. — Sagas. 

— Christianity. — Lutheran Religion. — King. — Congress. — 
Hospital. — Physicians. — Clergymen. — Education. — Relig- 
ious Toleration. — The Press. — Cost of Living. — Vice. — 
The Riddarholm's Kyrkan.— Tomb of Gustavus Adolphus. 

— Reformation. — Royal Palace. — Picture Gallery. — Li- 
brar3^ — Codex Aureus. — King of Sweden. — Mimic War. — 
Standing Army. — Order. — Thieves 394 

CHAPTER XXXIV. 

SWEDEN {continued). 
Drottningholm. — Lake Malar. — Sigtuna. — Odin. —Superstition. 

— Pirates. — Rural Life. — Professor Olivecrona- — Islands. — 
Chateau. — Commercial Life- — Manuscripts. — University of 
Upsala. — Codex Argenteus. — Icelandic Literature. — Stand- 
ard of Education. — Students. — Costume. — Cathedral. — 
Statue of Thor. — Old Upsala. — Mora Stone. — Mass Meet- 
ings. — Graves of Pagan Deities. — Temple of Odin. — An- 
cient Tower. — Battle-field of Faith. — Deer Park Restaurant. 

— Social Customs. — Swedish Homes. — Content. — Moral 
Progress 409 

CHAPTER XXXV. 

SWEDEN {continued). 
Steam Canal. — The Oscar. — View of Stockholm. Sodertelje. 
St. Olaf. — The Gota Canal.— Castles and Legends. — So- 



CONTENTS. XXlll 

derkoping. — Tavern Breakfast. — Sabbath in Sweden. — 
Church. — Costumes. — Service. — Snuffing and Nasal Sing- 
ing. — Watering-place. — Physician. — College of Health. — 
Baths. — Mineral Waters. — Emigration. — Lodging and 
Board 423 

CHAPTER XXXVI. 

SWEDEN {continued). 

On the Gota Canal again. — Working-girl. — Lake Asplagen. — 
Swedish Professor. — Lake Roxen. — Berg. — The Vetra-Klos- 
ter. — Graveyard. — Tombs of the Douglases. — School- 
house. — Dinner on the Canal. — Crops. — Lock-keeper. — 
Lake Boren. — Motala. — Iron-works. — Lake Wetter. — 
Wadstena. — Pea-crop. — Peasantry. — Labor. — Cold. — Sun- 
set. — Forsvik. — Russian Gentleman.^ — Lake Wenner. — 
Trout. — Falls of Trollhatten. — River. — Unfortunate Sailor. 

— Collection. — Hongfel Castle. — Gottenburg. — Cheap 
Lodgings. — Museum. — Daily News. — Training House for 
Servants. — Philanthropy 433 

CHAPTER XXXVIL 

NORWAY. 

Embarkation. — Breakfast. — Skager-rack and Cattegat. — Frei- 
dericksvern. — Christiania. — Hotel du Nord. — Flowers and 
Fountains. — Stove. — Norwegian Breakfast. — Museum. — 
Superstition. — Duel of the Girdle. — Bridal Ornaments. — 
Heathen Relics. — Learning and Letters. — Lake Mjosen. — 
English Commercial Traveller. — Boat Library. — Sports- 
men. — Church. — Fat Pastor. — Remnants of Popery. — 
Costumes. — The Lord's Supper. — Service. — Devotion and 
Reverence. — Oneness of the Church. — Lillehammer. — 
Cheap Living. — Cripple. — Christiania. — Carriole. — Post 
Horses and Boys. — Agershaus. — Robin Hood of Norway. 

— Benevolent Institutions. — Grave of Bradshaw 447 

CHAPTER XXXVIIL 

DENMARK. 

Skager-rack and Cattegat. — Magnificent Sunset. — Elsinore. — 
Toll. — House of Tycho Brahe. — Kronborg. — Treaty of 
Vienna. — Danish Giant. — Fortifications. — Hamlet's Grave. 



XXIV CONTENTS. 

— True History. — Royal Castle. — Queen of Christian II. — 
Touching Prayer. — Royal Forest. — Castle of Peace. — Den- 
mark. — Her History. — Valdemar II. — Schleswig-Holstein. 

— Christianity. — General Intelligence. — Education. — Co- 
penhagen. — Thorvaldsen's Museum. — Statues. — Vanity. — 
Hall of Christ. — Gems and Bronzes. — Vor Frue Kirke. — 
Religion and Art. — Church Service. — Baptism. — Love of 
Amusement. — Theatres. — Public Gardens. — Museum. — 
Ruins. — Monuments. — South American Gentleman. — Zea- 
land. — Fleas. — Kiel. — Elmshorn. — Home Again . . . 462 



^ 



SPAI N. 



CHAPTER I. 

GRANADA. 

TN the grounds of the Alhambra, the ancient palace of the 
-*- Moorish kings of Granada, what time those conquerors 
of Spain here held their right regal court, I have come to 
sit down and to rest. 

My lodgings are just under the walls of the old castle, in 
sight of its crumbling towers, in hearing of its many falling 
waters, and under the shadow of its English elms, which 
the Duke of Wellington gave to Spain. At any moment a 
few steps take me into the courts and halls and chambers 
of the Alhambra. In years past, while this pearl of Arab 
art and Oriental splendor was silently suffered to fall into 
ruin, with the lapse of centuries, it has been the habit of 
some travelled authors more addicted to. romance than 
others, to get the easy privilege of sharing lodgings with 
the bats in some deserted chamber, and they doubtless 
fancied themselves inspired with the genius of the place, 
as they dreamed and wrote where fair sultanas with their 
charms eclipsed the splendors of the fairy place itself. 

As it is no part of my purpose to indulge in romance 
while writing these sketches of the Alhambra and of Spain, 
and as the walls of a comfortable inn are much more to the 
taste of a weary traveller than the stone floors and open 



2 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

windows of a tumbling old castle, it is my preference to 
take up my abode for the present with the good people in 
the Alhambra Hotel, and not with the keepers of the palace 
itself. Besides, there is no choice left. The government 
has undertaken the work of restoring the Alhambra to its 
pristine beauty, and this process is now going onward under 
the direction of Sr. Contreras. ' He has already displayed 
so much skill in imitating the arabesque decorations of the 
walls, that only a practised eye perceives the difference when 
the ancient and the modern art appear in the same chamber. 
Architects as well as amateur travellers from all parts of 
the civilized world, for centuries past, have made artistic 
and pleasure journeys hither to study and admire the style 
that has nothing like it except in Spain, and here only 
where the Moors held sway. And perhaps no work of art 
in the whole world has been more frequently and fully 
described than the Alhambra of Granada. History, poe- 
try, and science have tried their several hands upon it. 
Romance has been so busy with it that it is not an easy 
task to disentangle the web of fiction, and get the only part 
of the tale worth knowing. So dear is truth, the simple, 
naked truth of history, to every true soul, that he is a great 
doer of evil who seizes upon history, and while professing 
to write it, weaves into his story the fancies of his own pro- 
lific genius, and that so deftly and so charmingly that the 
whole is accepted as veritable history, and the romance as 
the most credible and interesting of the whole. Early 
English history has thus been illustrated and inextricably 
confused. The spell of the magician's wand has thus made 
the conquest of Mexico a poem rather than a reliable nar- 
rative. And Spain, more than any other land, is now hope- 
lessly given up to legends and doubtful chronicles, modern 
and antique, so that one who reads must have either the 
credulity of a devotee, or the indifference of folly, to read 
with satisfaction the ancient history of the Peninsula. 



GRANADA. 3 

But the Alhambra is here I Granada is where it was a 
thousand years ago ! The same deep blue sky, the bluest 
sky that covers any land, hangs over its magnificent Vega 
or plain, through which the Darro and the Genii, united, 
flow ! The hills, each one with a story that can be scarcely 
heard without a tear, stand where and as they did when the 
Moors were masters of this region, which they thought the 
terrestrial paradise of man, and immediately under the celes- 
tial mansions where the Prophet and the Houris await the 
coming of all true believers. The Sierra Nevada, covered 
with perpetual snow, seems close at hand, as it lies on the 
eastern horizon, and in this cloudless sky and brilliant at- 
mosphere the long range shines like silver mountains in 
the noontide, as it did when fleet horsemen brought its ice 
in baskets to cool the drinks of Wall Zawi Ibu Zeyn, its 
first Moorish king. Those snowy summits reminded the 
Arabs when they came here of Mount Hermon, and this 
plain seemed to them to surpass in fertility and beauty the 
Vega around Damascus. 

And to this day the palm-tree, the pomegranate, and the 
fig, the orange and lemon, the •olive and vine, flourish under 
the genial sun. In these declining years of the nineteenth 
century, with a railroad running into the city across the 
heart of this paradise, and telegraphs finking it with Madrid 
and London and Washington, the peasants still scratch the 
ground with the root of a tree for a plough, and carry their 
produce to market on the back of a donkey. 

The creations of the Moors in Spain form the most 
remarkable chapter in human art. To me, Spain has been 
a new discovery; a sudden revelation of a world within a 
world ; the monuments of an extinct or departed race 
standing alone in a desert. The generation that now pos- 
sesses the soil has nothing of the genius or taste or spirit 
of the barbaric tribes that were once their masters. And 
the Alhambra at Granada, the Mosque at Cordova, and the 



4 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

Alcazar at Seville, look like the wrecks of a stranded 
empire, whose people live only in their glorious ruins. 

In the language of a brilliant historian, " Spain stands to- 
day a hideous skeleton among living nations." 

They have a legend here that Adam made a visit to the 
earth a few years ago, to see how his farm was getting on. 
He ahghted in Germany, and found schools and colleges 
and books, and the people intent on learning. He soon 
left it for France, where the people dressed in fantastic 
styles, and were mad upon works of art and improvements 
unknown to our great ancestor. Disgusted with all he saw, 
he came down to Spain, and, with delight, exclaimed, " This 
is just as I left it." 

Adam was nearly right. Of all the countries in Europe 
this is more as it zvas than any other. The greatest calam- 
ity that ever happened to Spain was its expulsion of the 
Moors ; and it will be a century, perhaps many centuries, 
before the arts and sciences will flourish on this soil as 
they did before that year, so memorable for the discovery of 
the New World by Columbus, and the overthrow of the 
kingdom of Granada by Ferdinand and Isabella. Both 
those events, forming * the most momentous epoch in the 
history of Spain, occurred in the year 1492, from which 
period we may date the decline of an empire enriched by 
the untold wealth of a new world added to its possessions, 
and strengthened by the destruction of the last stronghold 
of its former conquerors and masters. Foreign capital and 
enterprise have forced railroads across her mountains and 
plains, but the capital and enterprise of the world cannot 
make them profitable, when the people have no industry 
and no ambition. The mines of Spain are so rich that she 
has no need of possessions in the gold fields of the western 
hemisphere ; and they have been known and worked ever 
since the days of the Phoenicians, when Andalusia was the 
Tarshish of Holy Scripture. Yet Spain is more distin- 



GRANADA. 5 

guished to-day, as being behind the world, than for aught it 
has done or is doing for itself or others. And it often 
seems to a traveller here in Spain that he is in the Orient, 
so many manners and customs, so many works, and, much 
more, such a want of things he is wont to meet with in the 
more civilized nations, remind him that he is among a 
people who have derived much of what they have and are 
from lands at the other end of the Mediterranean Sea. 

It has a mixed race of inhabitants. It would not be 
strange if it had a mixed government also. Successive 
tides of people have swept over it, and the vestiges of all 
are left on the surface of the nation. Very little, indeed, is 
known of the days when the Iberians from Caucasus, and 
the Celts from Gaul, were the rude settlers of Spain ; but 
the traces are more plain of the Phoenicians, who came here 
1500 years before the birth of Jesus, and founded Cadiz and 
Malaga, and Cordova and Seville. In the year 218 before 
Christ the Romans came, and, of course, conquered all 
Spain, and reigned here just six centuries. Then came the 
Goths, sweeping the Romans out of Spain as they crushed 
Rome in Italy. And the Goths ruled Spain precisely 300 
years. Then came the Moors, and, in two pitched battles, 
smote the Gothic Christian power to the earth ; and, like 
a hurricane from the African coast, rushed up from the 
south, and never stayed its destructive course till the cres- 
cent had supplanted the cross on every tower in Spain. 
The Moors were lords of Spain just seven centuries. Grad- 
ually the crescent waned, as the Cathohc Christian kings 
recovered strength, until St. Ferdinand captured Cordova, 
in 1235, and Ferdinand and Isabella completed the work 
at Granada, on the third day of the year 1492, and the last 
of the Moorish kings fled from the Alhambra. 



ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 



CHAPTER II. 

OUT OF FRANCE INTO SPAIN — THE BASQUE PROVINCES. 

A WAY down in the south-west corner of France, on the 
-^ Bay of Biscay, was a hamlet on a rock-bound coast, 
which has of late years suddenly sprung into the notice of the 
world. The sunshine of imperial favor ripened the modest 
bud of a humble village into a flower of remarkable beauty. 
What was a short time since quite unknown, is now the 
fashionable watering-place of France. Selected by the late 
Emperor as his autumnal resort, he built a handsome 
chateau, and named it Eugenie^ and thus made the fortune 
of Biarritz. 

Here we spent a few days of rest after a long and weary- 
ing journey. The coast is dangerous. The bay is rough 
to a degree that has become a proverb. An attempt was 
making under government direction to construct a break- 
water, so as to enclose a " harbor of refuge," and one is 
greatly needed. A process, new to me, but perhaps com- 
mon, was going on : that of building rocks, or blocks, to 
make the projecting pier. Thousands of square feet of 
rock are here in the hills, but, for some reason, it is pre- 
ferred to form a concrete mass with stone and cement. 
These are made in cubes of six or eight feet, with two 
grooves underneath them, and when they have stood long 
enough to be proof against water, levers are thrust under 
them, a derrick hoists them upon a platform which is moved 
on a railway to the pier, where they are launched off into 



OUT OF FRANCE INTO SPAIN. 7 

the deep. The fury of the waves at this point, especially 
in rough weather, is frightful. The new breakwater was 
recently swept away. Two or three workmen were caught 
by the waves rushing higher than was expected, and the 
poor fellows were carried off into a deeper ocean. This 
terrified the others, and they declined to expose themselves 
to such dangers. The priests came to the rescue. They 
set up an image of the Virgin on an overhanging rock. 
She looks down benignly on the work and the workmen. 
Not one has been swept away since she stood there I ! 
Confidence is restored. The breakwater is gradually ex- 
tending. It will cost an immense sum, and if the Virgin is 
so successful in saving the lives of the landsmen in building 
it, one would think she might just as easily save the sailors, 
and so render the harbor unnecessary. 

On this stormy coast, where the surf breaks over huge 
rocks, and sometimes rushes curiously through them by 
passages worn in ages of incessant roll, there are several 
coves where the beach slopes gradually to the sea, and the 
smooth sand floor furnishes delightful bathing grounds. 
Here, in the season, the court used to disport itself in other 
robes than those of royalty, and among the crowds of fash- 
ionable people, who in fantastic deshabille indulge in the 
ocean bath, were daily seen the Emperor and Empress and 
the remarkable boy who astonished the mayor by being the 
son of an Emperor when only ten years of age ! 

A courier, or travelling servant, is usually more of a 
nuisance than assistance, but I had to have one. He had 
the Spanish name of Antanazio, was of course familiar with 
the language, and he spoke French also, but not a word 
of English. He was a half devout Catholic, and professed 
to be very discriminating in his faith, rejecting many of the 
notions of his countrymen, and swallowing others without a 
strain. He was a big fellow, so big that he could easily 
have taken me under one arm and my companion on the 



8 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

Other, and marched into or out of Spain at any moment. 
He was the terror of the cabmen and porters and waiters, 
bullying, swearing, and pushing his way through the thickest 
of the fight, in those .struggles that attend every arrival of 
a passenger in any part of the world. He was just about 
as honest as the race to which he belongs. Every traveller 
thinks his own courier a pattern of honesty. I have had 
them in a dozen different countries, and never yet was able 
to put the word honest into the certificate which they craved 
at the end of the journey. Some are better than others. 
Any one of them is worse than none, if you have a slight 
knowledge of the country. Antanazio was in league with 
every hotel man to get as much out of us as he could, and 
he made up for his frauds on a large scale by an excess of 
zeal to save a few coppers for us when a poor porter or 
sacristan was to be paid for service. The gnat and the 
camel were familiar to Antanazio. Yet he was one of the 
best couriers to be found, and he shall have the benefit of 
this notice. 

Just before we leave France to go into Spain we pass a 
village, here mentioned only to cite an eloquent epigram 
inscribed around the dial of the clock on its tower : " Vul- 
7ierant omnes^ ultima necatP Even so ; each flying moment 
wounds : the last slays. And after quitting the Hendaye 
station, we dash across the river Bidassoa, which divides 
the two kingdoms. It would take us the rest of the day 
merely to read the history that invests this crossing with 
interest for all time. A little dry spot is in the bed of the 
river. There kings and queens and generals have met to 
settle affairs of state as on neutral ground, and the petty 
patch has come to be called the Island of Conference. 
Here, in the middle of the dividing river, Louis XIV. of 
France had his first meeting with Maria Theresa, daughter 
of PhiUp IV. of Spain, and they were married in the cathe- 
dral of St. Jean de Luz on the French side of the river. On 



OUT OF FRANCE INTO SPAIN. 9 

the same spot the kings of France and Spain met in 1463 
to negotiate; and here too, in 1645, Isabella the daughter of 
Henry IV. was excJianged for Anna of Austria, the one to 
be the wife of the king of Spain, and the other of France. 
In 1526, Francis I., who was a prisoner of Charles V., was 
here given up, and his two sons accepted as hostages in his 
stead. We go thousands of miles to visit a spot that has 
thus been made sacred and famous, yet one can hardly tell 
why he looks with interest upon ground so sanctified. The 
grass and the weeds grow just as freely, and the birds are 
as careless in their songs, and the water flows on as it 
always flows ; but still no thoughtful traveller can pass 
such landmarks in the march of great events, without paus- 
ing to observe the effect which those events have had on 
the history of the world. And this is one of the greatest 
objects before us as we enter and traverse Spain, It is a 
land of history : of romance too ; and perhaps both are 
equally interesting. For every line we cross, and every 
city and province we visit, is rich in association, even if the 
land is now but a great sepulchre of great peoples. 

And we were in Spain. On the northern frontier, and in 
instant contact with the people of France, is a race that is 
Spanish only in name, and hardly that; a race that has, 
through all the mutations of government in this unstable 
country, maintained a sort of independence, with rights and 
privileges, manners and customs so peculiar to themselves, 
that they may be said to be in Spain, but not of Spain. 

On the anniversary of the death of one of their number, 
the friends gather at the grave, and offer to the departed 
gifts of bread and fruit, as if they required supplies of food 
for the endless journey in another world. On the holidays, 
which are many in a year, they are wild in the dance, with 
the tambourine and bagpipe and castanet, being far more 
demonstrative in the height of their excitement than the 
more southern inhabitants of Spain. They are a proud 



10 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

race, and more proud of their ancestry than any thing else, 
the poorest peasant among the hills displaying on the door 
of his hut a coat of arms, and claiming descent from some 
ancient and illustrious house. As a race they have no 
trouble in reckoning their pedigree back to Tubal and 
Noah, and unless your tree of genealogy has branches 
springing out of a trunk that bears the name of Adam, 
these people are far ahead of you in the line of their an- 
cestry. 

They occupy the Basque Provinces, three divisions, small 
in extent, lying among the Pyrenees and on the Bay of 
Biscay. They are probably lineal descendants of the first 
settlers of Spain, and may be correct in their boast that 
they are not tainted with Roman or Moorish or Gothic- 
German blood. They still speak a language so strange and 
so formidable to a foreigner that it is said no one has been 
able to master it. There is a tradition among them that 
the devil himself spent five years in studying it, and was 
able to learn three words only. But after much inquiry I 
could not trace this tradition to any reliable source. In 
fact, it is said that one or two bold and persevering scholars 
have actually made some inroads into the language, but the 
discoveries made were a very poor reward for the time and 
labor spent. 

Into this new yet ancient country we enter at once, for 
it is the northern gateway of Spain. At the outset of our 
journey we must " change cars," for the Spanish govern- 
ment, in granting license for a railroad to enter its domains, 
refused to allow it to be made of the same width with that 
of France, as it would in that case afford to the French 
facilities for invasion in case of war! The idea is very 
characteristic of Spain. And the same stupidity that dic- 
tates such an impediment to travel forgets that every train 
of passengers coming in from the north is an invasion that 
is just as fatal to the regime of Spain as would be another 



THE BASQUE PROVINCES. II 

incursion of Goths or Gauls. Ideas, rather than arms, 
work revolutions now-a-days. 

The mountains have stretched themselves across this 
frontier to the verge of the ocean, and on our right as we 
go south is a narrow pass between two precipitous hills, 
and thus a safe and easily defended path for ships is made. 
Within is a snug harbor, where the largest fleet may lie 
unseen, and unreached by the storms at sea. Out of this 
little port once sailed a man whose name is dear to the 
American heart ; for in the days that tried the souls of our 
fathers La Fayette came here into Spain and took passage 
to the Western world, to give his sword and his fortune and 
his life to the cause of liberty. A little farther on, a high 
castle-crowned hill defends the city of St. Sebastian. It is 
the first place of any importance after entering Spain. 
Being so near to France, and so easy of access by rail, it is 
common for Englishmen and others to take a trip to St. 
Sebastian, from Biarritz, which is only two or three hours 
distant, and then they can say they have been to Spain. 
There is nothing of interest here to attract the traveller. 
The Duke of Wellington, after losing 5,000 men in storming 
it, drove out the French, and when his army got possession 
of the town, they sacked it, set it on fire, and enacted such 
scenes of wild debauchery as are not remembered without a 
blush of shame after the lapse of more than half a century. 
To please visitors from the north, and to make their town a 
fashionable resort in the season, the people of St. Sebastian 
have a bull-ring, and exhibit on a small scale the national 
entertainment of a weekly bull-fight. For it must not be 
supposed that Spanish blood only is delighted with this 
savage sport. The French love to see blood ; and the Eng- 
lish, whose highest national sport is the prize-fight ; and 
Americans, who have been known to allow a prize-fighter to 
be sent to their national Congress, — all take great pleasure 
in seeing horses, bulls, and men, in one grand meUe^ wounded, 



12 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

bleeding, dying ; and the fairest of some of the most delicate 
little women of these Christian countries clap their hands 
when the bull gets the advantage and tosses his bleeding 
victim into the air. 

We are now in the midst of the mountains. The road 
gradually rises as we advance, and frequently makes its way 
through the heart of the hills. The valleys lie sweetly far 
below. If the road followed the line of the valleys it might 
be exposed to frequent injury by floods. And'as this range 
must be crossed, it is better to make the ascent as easy as 
possible. We might be in Switzerland, so like it are these 
farms on the hill-sides and in the valleys ; the sounds that 
break on the ear are the same : the houses scattered in cosy 
nooks, or clustered in little villages which the church crowns 
with a blessing as of heaven. The oxen have their head 
and necks covered with a sheepskin or a woollen blanket to 
protect them from the rain. They drag a cart of which the 
wheels are a solid block of wood secured with a tire. There 
has been a fair to-day in some one of the villages, and men 
and women are going home, leading cattle they have pur- 
chased. The men are well formed, athletic, straight, and 
good-looking. The women are a superior race, and even 
when leading a calf the peasant woman steps proudly along 
as if she were entering her drawing-room. Their hair is 
their glory, worn pendant on their backs. Of their moral 
and mental culture little is known, as they have slight inter- 
course with the outer world. From the beginning they 
have had a government of their own, sometimes being cut 
up into republics, and managing the most of matters in 
their own way. Even when they have claimed their own 
congress, and tariff, and army, the Spanish government 
has thought it the part of discretion to humor them. When 
emerging from these provinces into Castile, our luggage was 
searched to find any tobacco we might be smuggling : for 
this is one of the privileges of the Basque Provinces, that 



THE BASQUE PROVINCES. 1 3 

they may import tobacco free of duty, but it is under a 
tariff the moment we pass beyond. In this region the In- 
dian corn of our own country is the principal production. 
Peaches, apples, and cherries are abundant. Iron mines 
are worked, and furnaces are frequently seen in full blast. 
Cloth and paper mills are in operation. The inhabitants 
have an energy and enterprise far superior to that of the 
people farther south. Many of them become seamen. 
Some have made discoveries in distant seas. One of the 
most peculiar of their ideas, and one that may account for 
the lofty bearing of their women, is, that the right of primo- 
geniture exists among them, but it applies to the first-born 
child, whether son or daughter! This often places the 
woman at the head of the house, so that she can say, as 
few women elsewhere can say, " What's yours is mine, and 
what's mine is my own." 

Property is very widely diffused among the people ; farms 
seldom comprise more than ten acres, so that there can be 
no great practical distinctions among them on account of 
wealth. They divide their farms with hedges instead of 
fences or walls, while in the more southern parts of Spain 
they put up no fences of any sort, but merely mark the 
bounds of land with a stone, which cannot be moved with- 
out incurring a curse. 

In a charming valley, among hills clothed with chestnut- 
trees, and the meadows with orchards of apples and pears, 
lies the village of Tolosa, and farther on we rested at 
Vitoria, a famous city, the capital of the Province of Alava, 
and celebrated as the scene of a great battle between the 
Enghsh and the French in 1813. The Duke of Wellington 
led the British and beat the French under Joseph Buona- 
parte, who fled in such disorder and haste that all the 
pictures he had stolen in Spain, and five millions of dollars, 
fell into the hands of the Duke. 

We are now leaving the Basque Provinces : Miranda is 



14 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

the first town in Castile at which we stop. An immense 
railroad station is in progress of erection, showing the ex- 
pectation at least of a great amount of business. We hope 
the hope may be realized. Crossing the river Zadorra, and 
now the Ebro, and along the Oroncillo, we are again in the 
midst of the wildest and grandest mountain scenery, as we 
take our iron way through the frightful gorges of Pancorbo. 
And even here the legends of Spain begin to invest the 
crags and ruined castles with the interest of romance. For 
on these heights are the remnants of the castle where 
Roderick, the last king of the Goths, brought the beautiful 
Florinda, whom he saw as David saw Bathsheba, and see- 
ing loved, not wisely but too well, and loving, lost his crown, 
his honor, his kingdom, and his life. 



BURGOS. IS 



CHAPTER III. 

BURGOS — THE ESCORIAL. 

1VT0THING purely Spanish comes in sight till we get to 
^ Burgos. This old city is half-way from the frontier 
to Madrid, and is just so slow, sleepy, and sluggish a town 
as one should see to get a correct impression of Spain at 
the start. About a thousand years ago, Diego Porcelos, a 
knight of Castile, had a beautiful daughter, Sulla Bella, who 
was loved and won by a German, and they founded this 
city, calling it from a German Btirg^ a fortified place, 
Burgos. For many long years it was independent, gov- 
erned by a council. Afterwards, Gonzales was made the 
governor, as Count of Castile, who and his heirs reigned 
until, under Ferdinand I., in 1067, by a happy marriage, 
the crowns of Leon and Castile were fused into one. 

The legendary hero of Spain, whose exploits are only less 
than those of Hercules, was born in Burgos, and what is 
more and better, his bones are here in the Town Hall ; and 
if any doubt is entertained of the fact that he actually lived 
and died and was a wonderful man, between the dates of 
his birth and death, such doubts ought to be dispelled by a 
sight which I had of an old brass-bound, mouldering chest, 
sacredly preserved in one of the inner and holy chambers 
of the cathedral, and called the coffer of the Cid. Once on 
a time the Cid had occasion to borrow a large sum of money 
of two Jewish bankers in Burgos, and he left with them as 
security this trunk, with, as he said^ all his jewels and gold 
in it. He did not pay the money when it was due, and the 



BURGOS. 



17 



chest being opened by the lenders was found full only of 
sand ! It was thought in those days a merit to cheat a 
Jew, and the Romanists show their estimate of the trick to 
this day by keeping the swindling coffer among their pre- 




The Cid. 



1 8 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

cious relics. But it is hardly probable that a Jew ever lived 
who would lend money without first seeing the security, and 
the story therefore lacks probability. However this may 
be, we are now in the city of the Cid, and though a Chris- 
tian knight, he had read the words of the Prophet of the 
Moor, — " There are three sorts of lies which will not be 
taken into account at the last judgment: ist. One told to 
reconcile two persons at variance. 2d, That which a hus- 
band tells when he promises any thing to his wife ; and 3d,- 
A chieftain's word in time of war." Such is the morality 
of Mahomet, and there is not a httle of the same Jesuitism, 
under other names. 

The city has 25,000 inhabitants, and one of the most 
splendid cathedrals of Europe; but not a hotel that is 
decent. We went to the best, and its entrance was strong 
with the smell of the stables. The first flight of steps in- 
side was littered with dust and straw, and it looked as if we 
were to be led to a manger, which word is, indeed, the same 
with the French salle a manger^ a dining-room. Yet this 
proved to be as fair a hotel as Spain at present offers to its 
friends from abroad. They are all inferior to second-rate 
hotels in France or Switzerland, and many that profess to 
be first-class are execrable. The charges are higher than 
in better houses in countries where living is dearer, so that 
the business of entertaining strangers in Spain is an organ- 
ized imposition. The roads are now free from robbers who 
formerly infested them and made travelling dangerous. 
The robbers have evidently left the highway and gone to 
keeping the hotels. They still rob travellers, with less risk 
and trouble than in the olden time. 

An Englishman by the name of Maurice, being high in 
the favor of Ferdinand, the saint and hero, laid the foun- 
dation, A. D. 1 22 1, of the Burgos cathedral, which fairly 
challenges comparison with any or all of the finest speci- 
mens of ecclesiastical architecture in the world. Having 



BURGOS. 19 

been built in successive periods, and these at long distances 
from each other, there is a want of harmony in the parts, 
but this is observed only by the professional eye, while to 
others, and especially on one who enters this first of the 
great edifices of Spain, its interior bursts with a blaze of 
grandeur covered with beauty, that fairly dazzles while it 
awes and dehghts him. And after having visited and 
leisurely studied half a dozen others, including those of 
Toledo and Seville, I regard the cathedral of Burgos as 
exhibiting a degree of perfection in detail, an elaborate exe- 
cution to adorn and embellish a sanctuary, not equalled by 
any of its rivals in Spain. 

And it is to Spain that we must come to see what the art 
and consecrated wealth of princes and priests can do to 
build temples in honor of God. Italy has nothing like 
them. St. Peter's is the largest Christian church in the 
world, and perhaps more labor and money have been ex- 
pended upon it. But as a Christian church it is a failure, 
without and within. Not so with any of these magnificent 
monuments of human power and devotion. The towers of 
this, at Burgos, with their graceful, open-worked pinnacles, 
spring up as if seeking the sky. The gates are grand, and 
surrounded and crowned with bas reliefs. Around the 
towers are seventy statues, of prophets and apostles, and 
over the transept are twenty-four life-size statues of female 
saints, each covered with a canopy, as guardian angels on 
this house of prayer. Moses and Aaron, in stone, stand by 
one of the doors, with Peter and Paul, and in the vestibule 
is the Saviour, and around him the four evangelists are 
writing the holy gospels, while at least fifty statues, apos- 
tles, angels with candlesticks, seraphs, and cherubs, add to 
the ornament of this one gate. 

It is quite impracticable to convey by words, and it is a 
fact that drawings or photographs of interiors fail to convey 
an idea of the view which one meets on entering a vast 



20 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

cathedral. The impression is on a devout mind, whether 
of the same faith with that professed by the ministers at 
these altars or not, the impression is one of solemnity and 
sublimity. When the enlightened stranger comes near to 
study the wretched additions which superstition has made 
to the simplicity of Christian worship as established by its 
founder, his taste and principles may be shocked and re- 
volted by what he sees and hears in gorgeous and glorious 
cathedrals. But these are abuses that have crept in : fungi 
on the trunks of grand old forest trees, under whose branches 
it is a delight to sit and think of him who dwells in a nobler 
temple not made with hands. Three hundred feet long, and 
two hundred feet and more wide within, and chapels yet 
beyond, each one large enough for a church, and two hun- 
dred feet to the roof, which is supported by vast pillars of 
stone, and each one of them wrought elaborately with gar- 
lands, and fruits, and images of angels, and historic scenes 
and incidents in Scripture, — such is the first grand view 
that lies before us, as we enter the gates of this cathedral 
in Burgos. It is in the form of the Latin cross, and at the 
intersection, the crucero^ as it is called in Spanish, the effect 
of the vaulted dome, and of the whole minute and elegant 
workmanship, is so exquisite that the Emperor Charles V. 
is reported to have said it should be placed under glass, and 
Philip II. pronounced it the work rather of angels than 
men. I could discern nothing worthy of such exaggerated 
eulogy, while admiring the harmonious proportions and the 
graceful combinations that enhance the effect of elaborate 
sculpture and ingenious decorations. 

Four massive columns, embellished with allegorical sculp- 
tures, form the transept, and above them the main arches 
spring. Angels bear aloft a banner, inscribed, " I will 
praise thee in thy temple, and I will glorify thy name, thou 
whose works are miracles." 

Just here, for we were coming toward the high altar, 



BURGOS. 21 

Antanazio dropped upon his knees, on the marble floor. 
A little bell had been rung, and all the Catholics in the 
cathedral bent to the ground as the host was elevated for 
their adoration in the celebration of the mass. We stood 
before the high altar, resplendent above and about it with 
wrought silver and gold and rich carving and sculpture, in 
which the life and death of the blessed Saviour are inscribed 
in mute yet expressive symbols. In the choir are more 
than a hundred stalls or seats of carved walnut, each one 
of them an elaborate work of art, rich with figures of men 
and beasts, the virgin and saints in martyrdom and in 
glory; and one of these saints is astride of the devil, in 
memory of the fact that the devil did carry this saint from 
Spain to Rome in one night. That's better time than any 
of the Spanish railroads can make. 

We were led by a kind sacristan through the various 
chapels, all rich in tombs of costly workmanship, and some 
containing relics which, to the believer in their virtue, are 
of priceless value ; one of these precious treasures being a 
statue of Christ on the cross, which we were expected to 
behold with deep reverence. It is asserted and believed to 
have been carved by Nicodemus just after he had buried 
the Saviour. It is, therefore, an authentic likeness ; and if 
any doubt existed of its being a genuine work, it is removed 
by the facts that the hair, the beard, the eyelashes even, 
and the thorns, are all natural, real ; that it sweats every 
Friday ; that it sometimes actually bleeds ; and that it has 
performed many miracles. It would have been more im- 
pressive on my unbelieving mind if it had not been girt 
about with a red petticoat ! 

The castle has a history in which the names of all the 
great warriors of the last thousand years have a part; it 
has been the prison of some kings, and the bridal-chamber 
of queens, and the birth-place of more. In modern times 
Napoleon conquered it. And what is more remarkable, 



THE ESCORIAL. 23 

Wellington tried to drive out the French, and failed. It is 
now a heap of ruins ; for when the French abandoned it 
they blew it up, but so bunglingly that some three hundred 
of them went up with it. The explosion destroyed the 
painted windows of the cathedral, an irreparable loss. 

There is nothing in Burgos to see but the cathedral ; and 
that is worth going to Spain to see, though you may have 
to put up at and zvith a Burgos tavern. 

Philip 11. came to the throne of Spain in 1556, less than 
twenty years before the massacre of St. Bartholomew's day 
in France, and in the same century with the Reformation 
led on by Luther. His history and his character are famil- 
iar to the world. Cold, cruel, bigoted, intolerant, morose, 
gloomy, superstitious, the grandson of a woman who was 
known by the name of Crazy Jane, and who earned the 
title, the son of the great Emperor of Germany, Charles V., 
who was also Charles I. of Spain, this Philip II., thus 
descended and thus endowed, was less a king than a monk, 
and in the cloister or the cell was more at home than on 
the throne. He was the husband of Bloody Mary of Eng- 
land, and, like her, verily thought to please God by perse- 
cuting the saints and mortifying himself. Perhaps his 
queer grandmother had put the idea of a palace and a mon- 
astery and a tomb into his head. Perhaps his father, in the 
gloomy hours when he meditated retirement and abdication 
of his sovereignty, inspired the son with this strange pur- 
pose. Or, more likely, the conception with him was orig- 
inal, and as no monarch, before him or since, had such a 
heart under the guide of such a head, it is only just to give 
him all the credit of devising and achieving one of the most 
stupendous follies and gigantic monuments that was ever 
executed by the hands of men. 

The Spaniards reckon the Escorial as the eighth wonder 
of the world ! 

About twenty-five miles north of Madrid, in the midst of 



24 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

the dreariest wilderness of barren, rocky, all but uninhabita- 
ble hills, a region where no beauty of scenery cheers the 
eye, no silver river winds along through fertile vales, no 
verdant slopes are covered with grazing herds, and no 
forests with their cool shades invite the tired traveller or 
the weary citizen to seek repose, — here, in the last of all 
places for such an edifice, is placed the Escorial, the largest 
and grandest .edifice in Spain, and the most remarkable build- 
ing now standing on the earth. What Egypt had when 
Karnak and Thebes were in their prime, what Babylon 
and Nineveh knew in the days of their now buried glory, 
we have but faint knowledge. This house covers a square 
of five hundred thousand feet ! It is about 750 feet long, 
and 600 feet wide. It is a royal palace. It is a monastery. 
It is the sepulchre of the royal family of Spain. It is a 
church ; and in that church, the chapel of this strange house, 
there is more wealth lavished on the pulpits and altars than 
on any other that I have seen, in this or any other country. 
Yet all this is in a wilderness, far away from cities and the 
abodes of men who might be supposed to admire and enjoy 
such grandeur, — a temple in a desert, a palace and a 
sepulchre. 

Passing on by the rail from Burgos, we might stop at 
Valladolid, once the most renowned of all the cities of Spain, 
now so utterly decayed as to be of interest only to anti- 
quarians. Here Ferdinand and Isabella were married in 
1469. Here Columbus, the worn and Veary, died in his 
own house in 1506. Here he slept in death six years, and 
then his bones were removed to Seville, and again to Cuba, 
that they might rest in the New World he found. Philip 
II., whose Escorial we are going to see, was born here in 
Valladolid, and after he grew to manhood had the pleasure 
of seeing at one time fourteen Protestants, and thirteen at 
another, burnt alive, in the Grand Square of the city: a 
most edifying spectacle, which strengthened his faith so 



THE ESCORIAL. 2$ 

much that he afterwards dedicated his mighty structure to 
the good St. Lawrence, who was broiled to death on a grid- 
iron, enduring his torments with so much fortitude that he 
said to his executioners, " I am done on this side, perhaps 
you had better turn me over," — whence comes the expres- 
sion, " done to a turn." 

PhiUp II. made Madrid the capital of his kingdom, hold- 
ing his court there or at the Escorial, at his pleasure, for 
they were only a few hours apart. 

It is a long but pleasant walk from the station to the 
palace, and it is better to stroll along the shaded avenues, 
resting at times on the solid stone seats, looking upward at 
the solitary pile ahead, and musing on the wonderful dead 
past; the pomp and pageantry, the vast processions of 
priests and kings and countless armies of Spain, of France, 
of England, that have marched up this same street, in 
triumph, in penitential grief, or in funeral array. Away 
from the world, the world has often come hither, under the 
many garbs the world wears, according as it is in glory or 
in shame. Entering the grand quadrangle by the chief 
gate, the colossal edifice presents its central front and the 
two lateral projections in one view; the main fagade is 
adorned with statues of the principal personages in Old 
Testament history. Crossing the court, paved with great 
granite blocks, we enter, and the massive walls, the cold 
damp halls, gloomy in their naked, solid grandeur, make 
us feel that we are entering a fortress, and not a palace. 
It would be impossible to find your way without a guide. 
There are sixteen courts within, and out of each of them 
long passages lead to eighty staircases, and up these we 
may go, if we have time, to twelve thousand doors, and 
look out of two thousand six hundred windows, and worship 
at forty altars ! ! You wish to be excused from such climb- 
ing and kneeling. Come, then, with me at once into the 
church. It is more than 300 feet long, and 230 feet wide, 



26 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

and 320 feet high : of granite all ; its columns are majestic 
in their proportions, severe in Doric simplicity, supporting 
twenty-four arches, so beautifully sprung that, wherever you 
stand, the eye takes in the whole at a glance. The pulpits 
surpass, in the splendor of their finish, any thing in Italy. 
The richest, variegated, and most precious marbles, used as 
freely as though they were common wood, are adorned with 
gold and silver, strangely in contrast with the severity of 
the church itself. The altar is reached by a flight of several 
steps, and on the right, as we stand in front of it, a window 
opens into a little chamber, which we sought with more 
interest than any other apartment of this remarkable struc- 
ture. We went out of the church and into the room. It 
was scarcely ten feet by six in dimensions ; but it was the 
favorite closet, the study and the bedchamber of the 
monarch who built the whole. This was all he wanted for 
himself. It was in sight and hearing of the service at the 
high altar. At midnight and before daybreak he could rise 
from his couch, and join in the service of the church. I 
sat down in the plain old chair, by the table, the same that 
he used, and put up my feet on the camp-stool that often 
held his diseased and agonized limbs, and looked down from 
the little window on the priests and people in the church 
below. And here in this room death came and called for 
Philip II. For long months he had suffered anguish not 
less than that he had inflicted on better men than he. Let 
us leave it for others to say if like Herod he was smitten for 
his sins, and destroyed with the same disease. But when 
he saw that his end was near, at his order his servants bore 
him on a couch through the palace, and the monastery and 
the church, that his poor dying eyes might rest once more 
on all that he had done, and then they brought him back to 
his lonely, comfortless cell, and left him to die. It was on 
a September Sabbath morning, in 1598, while listening to 
the service at this altar, and holding in his hand the same 



THE ESCORIAL. 2/ 

crucifix that fixed the dying eyes of the Emperor his father, 
that PhiHp yielded his spirit into the hands of a just as well 
as merciful God 1 

We left this sad chamber, and descending a flight of steps 
made of precious stones, the walls lined with beautiful, 
polished marbles, we stood in a subterranean chapel, a 
mausoleum, shelves on each of the eight sides, and on each 
shelf a bronze sarcophagus, and in each coffin a dead king 
or queen. The name of each occupant is inscribed on the 
outer shell. One of the queens scratched her name on her 
coffin with a pair of scissors before she was put in. She 
could not have well done it after. There is an altar in this 
dungeon, and here the late queen of Spain, who is very 
devout in her way, came once a year and had a service at 
midnight. It adds nothing to the solemnity to have mass 
here in the night, for at noonday we had to hold candles in 
our hands to see our way in and out. 

The Sagrario was a more interesting apartment than 
this. It has some fine paintings. I valued them more 
than the 7,400 relics which are here preserved with pious 
care, including the entire bodies of eight or ten saints, 
twelve dozen whole heads, and three hundred legs and 
arms. It once had — but the fortunes of war have deprived 
the house of the treasure — one of the bars on which St. 
Lawrence was burnt, and one of his feet, with a piece of 
coal still sticking between its toes ! but the coal and the 
toes are lost in toto. 

One of the priests, who was leading a company of 
strangers visiting the place, overheard me asking for the 
Cellini crucifix, and immediately took us to the choir, and 
opened the door of a closet in which this remarkable work 
is carefully preserved. It is a Carrara marble statue of 
Christ on the cross, and marked by the great Benvenuto 
himself with his name and the date, 1562. He was the 
first who made a crucifix in marble, and the patient toil and 



28 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

great genius expended on this work have made it justly 
esteemed as his master-piece of sculpture. 

Yet have I alluded to but one or tv/o out of a thousand 
things that fix the attention, and impress one rather with 
astonishment than delight. I have not even mentioned the 
library, which is the crown of the whole, designed to be the 
repository of all learning, and in spite of all its sufferings by 
violence, it is still rich in rare and valuable books and man- 
uscripts. The cases are of ebony and cedar. Jasper and 
porphyry tables stand through the hall, about 200 feet long, 
and allegorical paintings adorn the ceilings. 

It was refreshing to get out of it, after walking through 
the palace and the cloisters, and to enjoy the warm sunshine 
beyond the gloomy walls. Two or three cottages have been 
built among the groves planted here, and it seems a mercy 
to children to provide a more cheery home for them than a 
sepulchral palace could be, though of wrought gold. 



MADRID. 29 



CHAPTER IV. 

MADRID — A SABBATH AND A CARNIVAL. 

A VALET-DE-PLACE who was leading us to church on 
-^ ^ Sunday morning in Madrid, spoke very fair English, 
and I asked him where he had learned it. He said, " At the 
missionary's school in Constantinople." He was quite a 
polyglot, professing to be able to speak seven languages 
fluently. It was interesting to meet a youth who knew our 
missionaries there, and entertained a great respect for his 
old teachers, — and it gave us an idea, too, of the indirect 
influence which such schools must be exerting, when youth 
are trained in them, and afterwards embark in other callings 
than those that are religious in their purpose. 

He led us to the Prussian ambassador's, where the chap- 
lain preaches in the French language. No Protestant 
preaching was then allowed in Madrid, — none, indeed, in 
Spain, — except under the flag of another government. 
The ambassador, or the consul, had the right, of course, 
to regulate his own household as he pleases ; and, under 
this necessary privilege^ he has, if he is so disposed, a 
chaplain, and divine service on Sunday, when his doors are 
opened to all who choose to attend. The practical working 
of it is that a regular congregation comes to be established 
under each flag, if there are so many persons of that coun- 
try and of a religious tendency as to make it important. In 
most of the great capitals of Europe there are people of 
other countries resident for business, health, or pleasure, 
and they find a place of worship in their own tongue. 



30 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

The Germans resident in Madrid speak the French 
language, as well as their own, and the present chaplain 
preaches in French. He is an earnest, excellent man, and 
his pulpit abilities would make him greatly useful in a 
wider sphere than this. In an upper chamber, that would 
seat fifty persons, a little congregation, not more than 
twelve or fifteen, had come together to hear the Word. 
The desk, or pulpit, was habited after the fashion in Ger- 
many, with black hangings, embroidered neatly by the 
hands of the wife of the Prussian ambassador, and with 
the words in French, "Go ye into all the world and preach 
the gospel." I was told that on Christmas and Easter 
festivals of the church some two or three hundreds of Ger- 
man Christians come to church and to the communion ; but 
the rest of the year their spiritual wants do not require the 
weekly ordinances, and the congregation rarely exceeds 
thirty people. 

We w^nt after church to the old Palace of the Inquisi- 
tion. It is now converted into dwellings*. Over the main 
entrance was the inscription, common all over these 
foreign countries, as in some parts of our own, '•'- Insured 
against Fire.^^ The poor victims who in former years 
were dragged under that portal would have been glad to 
read such words, if they could be interpreted into an assur- 
ance that they were to be safe from the fire of an atUo dafe. 

The Spanish Inquisition affords the saddest story in the 
annals of the human race. Whatever the name or creed of 
the persecutor, — Jew or Gentile, Roman, Greek, Protes- 
tant, or Mahometan, — the saddest of all possible facts is 
this, that man has put to torture and to death his fellow- 
man on account of his religious opinions. Let God be 
praised that in all the earth men now may worship him in 
their own way, with none to molest or make them afraid. 

And it is very well to bear in mind that persecution has 
its spirit, and some of its power, even where the victims are 



A SABBATH AND A CARNIVAL. 3 1 

by law insured against fire. In the press and in the pulpit 
the venom of bigotry and the bitterness of intolerance may 
be poured on the heads of those who are guilty of other 
opinions than ours, and in God's sight such persecution 
may be as offensive as the rack and boot of the Inquisi- 
tion. The spirit of the Master rebukes the use of the 
sword, even in the hands of Peter, to cut off a servant's 
ear, and the same spirit forbids us to be uncharitable 
towards the meanest of those who have not the light of the 
grace to see as we see, or to defend Christ in our way. 

They have no cathedral in Madrid, but their churches are 
many, and on Sunday morning they, women especially, go 
to church. The Spaniards are more devout than the Ital- 
ians. There is a proverb that to go to Rome is to dis- 
believe. The people in Spain have not seen Romanism as 
it has been seen in Italy, until the popular mind is sick of 
it. But they make short work in Spain of their devotions. 

The Prado is their park, on the skirts of the town. And 
this is not enough for them on Sundays. We saw the 
crowds pouring out towards one of the gates, some in car- 
riages, but most of them on foot, — men, women, and chil- 
dren, hundreds, thousands, in holiday attire, — and we 
followed. Beyond the Alcala gatd, near which is the bull- 
ring, half a mile into the country, we came to the meadows 
over which these pleasure-seeking Castillians had spread 
themselves to enjoy their national and favorite pastime. A 
little later in the season, when the weather is warmer, 
thousands of these people would stop at the bull-ring, and 
see the battle of men and beasts. It is too cool as yet, and 
the bulls do not fight well except in hot weather. But it is 
not too cool to dance out of doors, and for this divertise- 
ment these thousands have come. On the wide meadows 
there is not a house, not a shanty, not a shed or booth. 
We have passed on the way scores of wine-shops ; and there 
the people can resort if. they choose. But on the grounds 



32 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

there is nothing to be had but the pure and blessed air. 
The people are distributed in groups all over the plain. 
The grass is green. The sun, a winter sun, is kind and 
genial. The city lies in full view, with palaces and domes 
and pinnacles. And in the distance, but in this blazing 
sun and lucid atmosphere apparently very near, long ranges 
of mountains stand covered with snow, white, pure, glisten- 
ing like silver in the sunlight, and forming a magnificent 
background to the gay picture at our feet. In the centre 
of each of these many groups a dozen, more or less, of 
young men and women are dancing to music. This is 
furnished by one, two, or three musicians, strolling bands, 
with guitars and violins. Often one is an old man, blind. 
His wife and daughter are with him, with their instru- 
ments. The airs are not wild, not even lively, as compared 
with those of Italy. But they are spirited, and sometimes 
familiar to a foreign ear ;•. for the airs of music, like the airs 
of heaven, travel all around the world. The dances are 
pretty and modest, singularly tame, and far from being as 
full of frolic and abandon as one would expect to see in the 
out-of-door amusements of the common people. For these 
are the lower classes only. It is the pastime of the sons 
and daughters of toil, and perhaps want. They were not 
ill dressed, and most of them were well dressed. But they 
appeared to be the class of people who had but this day in 
the week for pleasure, and were now seeking and finding it 
in a way .that cost them little or nothing. More were 
looking on than danced. Yet the sets changed frequently, 
and the circle widened as the numbers of dancers grew, and 
there was always room for more ; for the meadows were 
wide, and the heaven was a roof large enough to cover 
them all. 

And the strangest part of this performance is yet to be 
mentioned; more than half the men in this frolic of the 
fields were soldiers of the regular army, in their uniforms, 



A SABBATH AND A CARNIVAL. 33 

without arms, enjoying a half hohday. They and all the 
rest, men and women, seemed to be as happy as happy 
could be. If we had thought the people of Spain, and espe- 
cially of Madrid, where the government is felt and seen 
more severely and nearly than elsewhere, to be gloomy, 
sullen, discontented, miserable, and ready to rise in revolt, 
such a thought would be put to rout by seeing these sol- 
diers and others, men and women, thousands and thou- 
sands, making themselves so easily happy of a Sunday 
afternoon. 

In one of the circles of dancers two young men, better 
dressed than the rest, were either the worse for liquor, or 
were feigning to be tipsy. As the other dancers paid no 
attention to them, and let them amuse themselves in their 
own way, it is quite probable they were playing the fool. 
These were the only persons in that multitude, of the lower 
orders of the city, who gave any sign of having 'been drink- 
ing any thing that could intoxicate. There were scores of 
wine-shops on the street, within the easy walk of all who 
wished liquors. It was necessary to pass them going and 
coming to and from the city. And thousands doubtless 
" took something to drink," both going and coming. The 
young men would treat the girls, and, of course, all would 
have as much wine as they wished. For it is almost as 
cheap as water, — cheaper than water in New York perhaps ; 
for there the tax that somebody pays for the use of Croton 
is something, but here in Spain wine is so cheap that what 
was left of last year's vintage has often been emptied on the 
ground, or used instead of water to mix mortar with ! Yet 
drunkenness is not one of the common vices of Spain. 

And so passed my first Sabbath in Spain, worshipping in 
French with a dozen Christians in the morning, and look- 
ing at thousands of the people dancing on the green in the 
afternoon. 

Three days before Lent begins the people give them- 

3 



34 ' ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

selves up to the wildest kind of frolic, with a looseness of 
manner that to a grave and thoughtful foreigner unused to 
such scenes at home is at first sight exceedingly foolish, 
and then very stupid. The Carnival is a carne-vale, a fare- 
well to flesh ; a grand celebration of the approach of Lent, 
or the season when lentiles^ beans or vegetables only, are 
to be eaten for forty days. As the people see the time 
coming when for more than a month their religion requires 
them in a very special manner to abjure the world, the flesh, 
and the devil, it seems to be their idea to give the last three 
days of liberty to the enjoyment of these three forms of 
mammon-worship. If afterwards they served the Lord with 
half the zeal of these three days of devil-worship, they 
would be the most pious people on the earth. But to one 
whose religious prejudices are quite vivid against the non^ 
sense of a Catholic carnival, it seems the queerest way in 
the world to get ready for serving God by plunging head- 
long into a scene of mad revelry that utterly abjures all 
sense and reason, and converts an entire city for three days 
into a pandemonium. 

Yet it is all in such perfectly good humor, so free from 
riot and violence and drunkenness, that the only fault to be 
found with it is simply this, that the whole community 
make fools of themselves. The Romans had a proverb, 
" It is well to play the fool sometimes," and perhaps it is. 
But when the whole town takes leave of its senses, and goes 
frolicking day after day, if it is a good thing, it is too much 
of a good thing, and that spoils it all. 

Our windows look out upon the Puerta del Sol, the great 
square of the city. From it radiate the eight chief streets, 
and through it every moment the tide of life is flowing. 
Now it is the great centre of the carnival. Along the 
streets are seen parading small companies of men in masks 
and fantastic costumes, with all sorts of musical instru- 
ments, making harsh melodies as they march. Two or 



A SABBATH AND A CARNIVAL. 35 

three of the set are constantly soliciting gifts from those 
they meet, or holding a cap to catch money thrown to them 
from the people in the windows and balconies, who are look- 
ing down to see the sport. Some of these rangers are 
women in men's clothes ; more are men in petticoats and 
crinoline, ill concealing their sex, which a close shaven 
chin and hard features too plainly reveal. In this disguise, 
great liberties are taken. A young woman stops a man on 
the sidewalk, claps him on the shoulder, asks him for money, 
perhaps chucks him under the chin, and sometimes more 
demonstrative still, she throws her arms around his neck 
and gives him an affectionate salute in the broad light of 
day on the most public and crowded thoroughfare. Even 
this boldness is taken in good part, and seldom or never 
leads to any quarrel. The men were polite to the women. 
In no case did I see any rudeness offered by a person in 
male attire to a female on the street. The maskers were 
only out in hundreds, while the others, looking on and 
enjoying, were thousands on thousands. These were in the 
usual dress of ladies and gentlemen. They expected to 
find walking somewhat rough, but they were prepared for 
it, and would have been disappointed had it been otherwise. 
The maskers wore costumes as various as the fancy of the 
wearers or the makers could invent them. Some were 
clothed in white from head to foot, with stripes of red or 
black ; their faces painted white like ghosts, or with horns 
to look as much like devils as possible. Many were imita- 
tion negroes, and this seemed to be a fashionable attire, as 
if the African were popular among the Spaniards, who once 
had a great horror of the Moors. Some wore a fantastic 
head-gear that excited shouts of laughter as they passed. 
One man strode along with a false head five times the life 
size, so nicely fitted to his shoulders that it looked to be a 
sudden expansion of his head into that of a monster. Sol- 



36 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

emnly the bearer of this prodigious topknot walked the 
streets, apparently unconscious of the presence of the little- 
headed race of beings who were laughing at his swelled 
head. 

Carriages, open, splendid barouches, and some with 
seated platforms prepared for the purpose, drawn by four or 
six horses, passed by, with six, eight, and even twelve 
maskers, all clad in the most inconceivably ludicrous robes, 
with queer hats and trimmings ; and some of them with 
musical instruments, singing, gesticulating, bowing to the 
ladies in the windows, and exchanging salutations with the 
people in the way. The drivers and postilions and footmen 
were all rigged in livery to match the costumes of the com- 
pany in the carriage, who thus aped the nobility and even 
royalty itself in its mockery of stately grandeur. And in 
the midst of these maskers, carriages with elegant ladies, 
in full dress for riding, go by, and among them, with his 
legs hanging over the side of the carriage, is one of the 
most fantastically got-up maskers, whose outlandish cos- 
tume and ridiculous situation call out tremendous applause. 

On the Prado, the great park of the city, thousands of 
elegant equipages are out in the afternoon, and the most 
fashionable people of Madrid are in the frolic. The ladies 
are loaded with sugar-plums to throw among the maskers, 
and these gay fellows will rush up to any carriage, leap on 
the steps, and demand a supply. On the walks, an old 
dowager in a splendid velvet cloak and dress, masked and 
representing an ancient belle, got up regardless of expense, 
attracts marked attention as she displays her fan and 
feathers, and struts as if in a drawing-room where she im- 
agines herself admired. An old monk hobbles along, as if 
broken down with age and poverty. A procession of priests 
mocks at religion itself, in a country where we had thought 
it a capital crime to make fun of the priesthood. 



A SABBATH AND A CARNIVAL. 3/ 

And there goes the Pope himself ; a man has actually 
mounted a hat like the Pope's, and with white robes and 
gold lace has made a disguise that tells its story instantly. 
And the people laugh to see it. Nothing is too sacred nor 
too dignified to be travestied here. A company of mock 
soldiers pretend to keep order by making confusion more 
confounded. By some strange metamorphosis a man has 
turned himself into a very creditable goose, and waddles 
along most naturally, having some wires at his command 
with which he works his bill, his wings', and tail. A bear 
on horseback rides up, and Bruin is received with bravos. 
An ox is mounted also on a horse, and then a wolf ; and 
even the devil is represented on horseback, and a woman 
rides astride behind him and her arms around him, a hide- 
ous, incongruous, but exceedingly ludicrous spectacle. Her 
hoops spread far behind, covering the horse's hips and tail, 
so that the figure is half horse, half devil, and the other half 
woman. One man, as an orang-outang, leads and exhibits 
another dressed in the same way. Parties of dancers, all in 
these ridiculous costumes, form a ring and dance the fan- 
dango, with castanets and cymbals and guitars, executing 
the freest flings and giving themselves to the wildest aban- 
don in the public streets. Others, men and women, dis- 
guised as if in their night-clothes and ready to go to bed, 
are wandering about, pretending to be lost, and their appear- 
ance is so comical that one almost forgets it is play, and 
pities the poor wanderers. 

But the description is growing more wearisome than the 
scene itself. Nonsense all, but such nonsense as makes 
one laugh at first and then feel sad that grown-up men and 
women can find amusement, day after day, in such infinite 
folly. And where the religion comes in, it is hard to see. 
Yet we observe that our American and English friends who 
have leanings through their own church towards the Church 



38 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

of Rome, take a wonderful interest in the carnival. They 
have some associations with it, and the fast that follows, 
that give to all this sport some significance quite incompre- 
hensible to the uncovenanted unbelievers in the outer 
courts. 



MADRID. 39 



CHAPTER V. 

MADRID — PALACE — BANK — PICTURE-GALLERY. 

"XT 7HEN Napoleon, as conqueror of Spain, entered the 
^ ^ royal palace of Madrid (it was in 1808, his brother 
Joseph, the new-made king of Spain, being at his side), the 
great captain paused on the splendid marble staircase ; and, 
as the magnificence of the mansion burst upon him, he 
turned to his brother, and said, in his epigrammatic way of 
putting his thoughts, " My brother, you will be better 
lodged than I." 

It is far more splendid than the Tuileries, or any palace 
in France, England, Germany, or Italy. It cost more than 
five millions of dollars a hundred years ago ; and that was a 
much greater sum of money than now. It has been en- 
larged and embellished from year to year ever since. When 
we drove up to the grand court, it was so formidably filled 
with cavalry that we thought the predicted insurrection was 
imminent, and the army had been summoned to the defence 
of the palace. Not at all. These mounted soldiers are 
only the regular guard. In this inner court, or square, the 
cavalry, in long line and fierce array, are ready for a fight 
with the revolutionists, if they are brave enough, or mad 
enough, to try their hands in a tussle with the troops of 
government, trained and paid to defend the existing order 
of things. From the windows of the armory this martial 
parade was imposing, though there were but a few hun- 
dreds of mounted men. The officers were clad in polished 
steel back and breast plates, which flash brightly in the 



PALACE. 41 

sun. The uniform is brilliant, and the riding splendid. 
Artillery companies, with cannon mounted, drawn by 
horses, manoeuvre in the square, crossing and recrossing 
constantly, under the eye of the royal household. A long 
line of lounging people look on also ; and, as they go and 
come all day, an impression is certainly insinuated by this 
military parade that the government is always ready to take 
care of itself. 

The palace stands on the verge of a height that com- 
mands a wide and exciting view of the plains of Castile. 
The thought of what those plains have seen in the last two 
thousand years makes them of more than romantic interest 
to one who takes in the past with the present. What suc- 
cessive tides of conquest have there ebbed and flowed ! 
To know that Charles V. and Napoleon and Wellington 
have followed one another up those shaded avenues to this 
summit, with their legions, is enough to invest them with 
grandeur. 

And here in this armory is the very sword that Gonzalo, 
of Cordova, wore, and the sword with which Ferdinand, the 
saint and hero, smote the Moors ; and the sword of Charles 
v., and the complete suit of armor which the great emperor 
often wore, and in which he was painted by Titian ; and the 
suit of armor worn by Boabdil, the last Moorish king who 
sat on the throne in this Alhambra, and who left it behind, 
doubtless, when he delivered his sword into the hands of 
Ferdinand and Isabella, at the foot of the hill on which I 
am writing. We had thought revolvers a modern invention, 
but here are elegant pistols, on the same principle, used in 
the seventeenth century, and now as good as new. A 
crown, a sword, a helmet, or something else, illustrates the 
life of all the heroes of Spanish history ; and the number of 
warlike memorials here displayed is about three thousand. 
How men managed to fight while clad from head to foot in 
these suits of steel armor is to me, a non-combatant, one 



42 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

of the mysteries of the art of war. We read of tourna- 
ments, and — more to be wondered at — of battle-fields, 
where all the knights are clothed from head to foot in the 
identical garments that are now before us, or in others 
made after the same pattern ; and how, with such a weight 
of steel and so constrained in the freedom of action, they 
could manage to wield their swords and thrust their spears, 
I do not understand. They were not men of more physical 
power than our soldiers. Some of them were less than the 
present average size of men. But they were mighty men 
with the sword. ' The Toledo blade was quite equal to that 
of Damascus ; and the helmet was often insufficient to save 
the brain, when the sword, in a strong hand, came down, 
cleaving through steel and skull. 

Two or three hundred horses stood in the stables ; and 
the grooms are only too happy, for a consideration to be 
paid at every door, to show these pampered and famous 
steeds. Each one of them has a name, in large letters, 
over his head, and on his blanket. Spain has some cele- 
brated breeds of horses, but, like every thing else in Spain, 
they are run out, and the stock is only kept up by importa- 
tion. It is so even with the Merino sheep, which belongs 
to Spain, but would have been extinct ere this, if it had not 
been perpetuated and improved abroad. You may see five 
hundred finer horses any pleasant afternoon in the Central 
Park, in New York, than any one of these pet horses of 
royalty. But you will never see, I hope, such a wealth 
and folly of equipage as the hundred carriages, and more 
sets of harness, and plumes, and liveries, and coachmen's 
hats, and velvet saddles, and embroidered hammer-cloths, 
which fill long apartments, and are shown together with the 
gilded chairs of state in which the king or queen is borne 
by hand in processions, and the chariot on which the royal 
personage is enthroned, with a canopy overhead, trumpeters 
below, and herald angels above, for the coronation parade. 



PALACE. 43 

The carriages used by successive monarchs are here pre- 
served in long lines of antiquated grandeur, even to the one 
in which Crazy Jane, the widow, carried about with her the 
corpse of her handsome husband, Philip the First. Queer 
woman that she was, jealous to insanity, she would not let* 
her husband be buried while she lived ; and now she lies by 
his side, down here in Granada, in the cathedral, and her 
marble effigy gives her an expression so gentle and loving, 
you would not believe she was ever the victim of the fiercest 
and meanest passion that makes hell of a woman's heart. 

I have been taking you with me through the palace and 
armory and royal stables, to give you a type of Spain. The 
poorest of all the governments, compared with its popula- 
tion and resources, it has these contrasts of wealth and 
poverty that mark its want of judgment, principle, and 
power. In the stables is invested a capital of more than 
half a million of dollars ! This prodigality is royal, but also 
absurd. The people see it, and the world has gone by the 
age, when gilt trappings and gorgeous pageants struck the 
multitudes dumb with the reverence of royal glory. 

The city of Madrid is well built, and has the appearance 
of a modern French town. Indeed, it is more French than 
Spanish in its out-of-door look, and the French language 
is very largely spoken in the shops and private families of 
culture. The intercourse now so frequent and ready with 
France by means of the railway and telegraph, and the 
abolition of all passport regulations and annoyances, have 
given the Spanish capital a start, and it will undoubtedly 
make rapid advancement. 

But there is nothing rapid in Spain just yet. Opposite 
the hotel in Madrid where I was staying, an old building 
had been torn down to make room for another. Workmen 
were engaged in removing the debris to renew the founda- 
tion. You would suppose that horses and carts, or wheel- 
barrows and shovels, would be in use. Such modern 



44 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

improvements had not reached the capital of Spain. One 
man with a broad hoe hauled the dirt into a basket made of 
grass, holding half a bushel ; another man took the basket 
and carried it a rod to another man, who handed it to 
another a few feet above him, and he emptied it on a pile 
of dirt up there, and sent the basket back to be filled again. 
And so, day after day, a job that with our tools and appli- 
ances would be done in a few hours, was here spun out in- 
definitely. Yet the palaces and cathedrals and fortresses 
of the southern climes have all been erected at this snail's 
pace, numbers and cheapness making up for enterprise and 
force. In Paris, in the street, a small steam-engine was at 
work to mix mortar, and the ease with which the process 
was put through revealed the secret of the wonderfully 
rapid transformations going on in that ever increasingly 
beautiful city. Here in Spain, to this day, where there are 
smooth, good roads for wheels, they still put a couple of 
baskets across the back of a donkey, and fill them with dirt 
or brick or stones, and so transport them, even when they 
are putting up the largest buildings. The architecture of 
Spain is more imposing than that of any other country in 
Europe. It is the chmate that makes men differ so much 
in their physical as well as mental manifestations. 

To see the mode of doing business in Spain, take the 
simple story of one day's work of mine in getting some 
money in Madrid. Holding a "letter of credit" which is 
promptly honored in any part of the world, and is just as 
good for the gold in Cairo or Calcutta as it is in London, I 
went in search of a Spanish banker to draw a hundred 
pounds sterling, say five hundred dollars. Anastazio led 
the way, and soon brought us to the house where the man 
of money held his court. Being shown up stairs, through 
two or three passages and an ante-chamber, we v/ere at 
length ushered into the presence. Senor Romero, the 
banker, was a man of fifty, dressed, or rather undressed, in 



BANK. 45 

a loose morning gown or wrapper, a red cap on his head, 
slippers on his feet, and a pipe in his mouth. A clerk was 
sitting near to do his bidding. I presented my letter. It 
was carefully read, first by the clerk, then by the principal. 
A long, consultation followed, carried on in a low tone, and 
in Spanish, quite unintelligible to me, if it had been audible. 
It was finally determined to let me have the money, and 
after an amount of palaver sufficient for the negotiation of 
a government loan from the Rothschilds, and taking the 
necessary receipt and draft from me, I was presented with 
a check on the Bank of Spain. When I had fancied the 
delays were over, they had only just begun. The bank was 
in a distant part of the city, and thither we hastened, taking 
a cab, to save all the time we could. The bank is a large 
and imposing edifice of white stone. In the vestibule was a 
guard of soldiers. A porter stopped us as we were about 
to enter the inner door. We must await our turn as some 
one else was inside ! One at a time was the rule. Benches 
were there, and we sat down, admiring silently the inodera- 
tion of banking business in Spain. At length our turn 
came. We entered a room certainly a hundred feet long. 
Tables extended the whole length. Behind them sat clerks 
very busy doing nothing. We were told to pass on, and on, 
to the lower end of the room, where we entered another, the 
back parlor, or private room of the officers. They were 
closeted out of sight, smoking, of course, and giving their 
wisdom to the business in hand. I presented the check at 
a hole out of which a hand was put to take it. I saw noth- 
ing more. We sat down and waited. Waiting is a Spanish 
institution. Everybody waits. Nobody gets any thing with- 
out it. We waited, and waited, and waited, and at last the 
little hole opened again, the mysterious hand was thrust out 

with the money, you suppose ; not a bit, but with the 

check approved. We must present it at the table or counter 
for payment. Returning to the long room, we presented 



46 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

the check, and were directed to the proper bureau. And 
here, of course, we got the money. Not yet. Bills of the 
Bank of Spain were given us, and when I required the gold, 
I was told that gold was paid only at the bureau of the bank 
in another street. Thither we now pursued our weary way. 
It was a rear entrance of the same bank building. A long 
line of gold hunters was ahead of us. We stood in the cue, 
and at last were inside. In the ante-room we had to wait 
so long that we took to the bench again. At last, admission 
being granted, we were told that only one could be admitted 
with a single draft. We sent Antanazio in, and returned to 
the door. Here we were told that no exit^ only entrance^ 
was allowed at the rear ! Explaining the case, we got out, 
and returning to the front, patiently as possible, we looked 
for the appearance of Antanazio loaded with gold. At last, 
for the longest delay has an end, the man emerged with the 
money in his hands. It had cost me from two to three 
hours in the middle of the day to draw this money, which 
in New York, London, Paris, or any city out of Spain, 
would have cost five minutes or less. And I have been so 
particular in the detail, because it lets you into the mode of 
doing business in the capital city, and the greatest bank of 
this country. 

Until the French and English companies pushed railways 
into Spain, travel and mails were on the slow-coach system. 
When the royal person made a journey, it was like the 
march of an army, such was the retinue required for- comfort 
and display. And as the railways are now completed only 
along a few great routes, the mails are largely carried in the 
diligences and coaches expressly made for the purpose. It 
is said, and there is no reason to disbelieve it, that down to 
the year 1840, when a Spaniard proposed to himself the 
danger and toil of a journey, it was his invariable custom to 
summon his lawyer and make his will; his physician, to 
learn if his health were adequate to the undertaking ; and 



POST-OFFICE. 47 

finally his priest, to confess his sins and get timely absolu- 
tion. It is not regarded now so formidable an excursion to 
go across the kingdom, but the native travel is so little that 
the railroads are very unprofitable. If it were not for freight 
they would not be supported at all. They have, however, 
greatly increased the correspondence of the country, and 
the rate of postage has been reduced, so that it is about as 
low as in other European countries. But the government 
keeps a sharp look-out upon the letters that come and go. 
In times when conspiracies are snuffed in every breeze, it 
would be quite unsafe for any one to entrust a secret in a 
letter going by mail. A government spy would be sure to 
have his hand on it and his eye in it, before it reached its 
address. The letters in the post-office at Madrid are held 
four hours after the arrival of the mail, before they are 
ready for delivery. The mail from the north, the London 
and Paris mail, comes in at ten o'clock a.m. We must wait 
until two o'clock p.m. for our letters. Then a list of all letters 
not directed to some particular street and number, or to 
some post-office box, is posted up in the hall of the office, — 
an alphabetical list. You look over the list, and if you find 
a letter for yourself, you ask for it at the proper window. 
If you are a stranger, your passport is demanded. But you 
had been told before coming to Spain that no passports are 
required, and now you must have one merely to get your 
letters. In default of a passport, you must in some way 
establish your identity. This is not always easy in a foreign 
country, but then nothing is easy in Spain. I got no letter 
from the post-office addressed to me while I was in Spain ! 
The noted rebel. General Prim, was a dreadful bugbear to 
the authorities, and all letters addressed to me were sus- 
pected by the local postmasters to be intended for the 
General. They were therefore sent to the government, or 
otherwise disposed of. No efforts to recover them were 
successful. Much good may they do the people who had 
to read them. Some of them had hard work, I know. 



48 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

Telegraphs are spreading over Spain, as they are over 
the world, civilized or not. Spain is one of the last coun- 
tries where they could become popular; but the business 
of any kingdom that has relations with the outside world 
must be armed with the telegraph, or it cannot hold its own. 
In traversing wild and secluded parts of the Peninsula, I 
have been surprised by finding the telegraph poles set up, 
and the wire stretching on, over hill and dale. Spain is 
slow, and the telegraph is not demanded here by the energy 
and enterprise of the people as it is elsewhere. Despatches 
of more than a hundred words are not sent. To or from 
any part of the Peninsula ten words may be sent for about 
twenty-five cents, twenty words for fifty cents, thirty words 
for seventy-five cents ; but the count includes each word 
written by the sender, date, address, signature, and if a 
word is underscored it counts two. Great precautions are 
taken to insure accuracy in transmission, and a small extra 
charge is made for delivery. 

Before coming to Spain I had been told that the picture- 
gallery in Madrid is the richest in the world. It seemed to 
me an idle tale, the boast of boasting Spaniards, repeated 
until perhaps somebody believed, as I certainly did not. 
But having seen it, day after day, for a week, I cheerfully 
cast a vote in its favor. It is superior to any other in 
Europe ; and, of course, in the world. It is not complete 
in the series of art studies. There are gaps of time which 
the student may desire to see filled. But there are few who 
visit these great European galleries as learners. The world 
comes to see them for the momentary pleasure to be found 
in the contemplation of the pictures. And they will be 
astonished to find that so many and so splendid pictures 
have been gathered and preserved in the Spanish capital. 

The gallery is open to the public only on Sundays^ but 
the director allows it to be shown every day to strangers, 
who are expected to give a fee to the attendants. On rainy 
days it is always shut ; an obvious reason is, that visitors 



PICTURE-GALLERY. 49 

will soil the floors with their shoes, but a better reason is 
that the gallery is so badly lighted that in gloomy weather 
some of the pictures are quite invisible. 

Who would suppose that sixty pictures by Reubens are 
to be seen in one gallery in Spain ! and fifty-three by 
Teniers ; and ten grand pictures by Raphael ; and forty-six 
by Murillo ; and sixty-four by Velasquez, some of them very 
large and magnificent ; and twenty-two by Van Dyck ; and 
forty-three of Titian^ who spent three years in Madrid, by 
invitation of Charles V. ; ten of Claude Lorraine ; and 
twenty-five by Paul Veronese ; and twenty-three by Snyder ; 
and more than thirty by Tintoretto ! ! ! There are more 
than two thousand here. Among so many, of course, some 
are good for nothing, as in every large collection. But one 
gallery in the world has masterpieces only, — that is in the 
Vatican. And there you have less than a hundred pictures, 
all told. But they are all great. Here, as in Florence and 
Dresden, good, bad, and indifferent have been hung to- 
gether; and perhaps the contrast makes the good appear 
better, and the bad worse. 

Murillo, the greatest of Spanish painters, is here in his 
glory. We have associated his name with his " Immaculate 
Conceptions " more than with any other of his works. One 
copy was brought to America a few years ago, and is now 
in the gallery of W. H. Aspinwall, Esq. A duplicate is in 
the Louvre, at Paris. And still another is in Madrid. 
These are three originals, undoubtedly, and they have been 
copied in every style of human art, especially in Paris, until 
they are as common as heads of the Saviour, all the world 
over. Yet this is not the Mtirillo^ — not his " Conception." 
It is a grand conception by the artist, but it is not the great 
picture of that subject on which, more than any other, his 
fame is founded. This is in another attitude, with another 
expression ; the Virgin is looking downward, and not gaz- 
ing, in an ecstasy, heavenward. The artist, in this picture, 

4 



50 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

imagines the Virgin Mary at the moment she becomes con- 
scious of the fact that by the overshadowing of the Holy 
Ghost she is to be the mother of the Son of God ! The 
accessories of the painting are of no account, but into the 
countenance of the Virgin he would throw the expression 
such as a spotless maiden might be supposed to have when 
first alive to such a wondrous, awful, yet transporting and 
delightful thought, " I, — I, — of all the daughters of Israel, 
am the highly favored among women. Of me is to be the 
Messiah ! I am the mother of the promised Saviour ! " 

Not far from this is a picture of the Vision of St. Bernard, 
exhibiting marvellous skill. The head is one of those 
prodigies of the painter's art, that is to haunt the memory 
in after years. Like the " Communion of St. Jerome," in 
the Vatican, to see it is to have it photographed in the 
mysterious chamber of the brain. Raphael painted one of 
his most remarkable pictures, " The Christ sinking under 
His Cross," for a convent in Sicily. It is said by some to be 
a greater work than the " Transfiguration," which is held to 
be the finest picture existing. To me, this in Madrid is 
the most impressive, the most nearly perfect. It is taken 
at the moment when Simon, the Cyrenian, attempts to lift 
the crushing cross, while the patient sufferer, with a face 
radiant with love and holy resignation, says to the weeping 
women near, " Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me 
but weep for yourselves and for your children." 

Titian's equestrian portrait of Charles V. is sublime, — 
like a majestic mountain, or a mighty rock in a desert. 
The solemn grandeur of the picture is indescribable. The 
man and his times, a whole volume of biography and his- 
tory, on one grand tableau, seen and remembered. Perhaps 
it would be as well to forget the women that Titian seems 
to have been fond of painting. Two of them here are not 
less perfect, many think they are more perfect, than the 
Venus of the Tribune. In other times the zealous priest- 



PICTURE-GALLERY. 5 1 

hood condemned these nudities to the flames, with heretics, 
as corrupters of the people ; but some have been saved. 

The picture that I desired more than any other to carry 
away and cherish as a life-long treasure, is one by Cor- 
reggio. After his resurrection the Saviour appeared to 
Mary, and she supposed it was the gardener; but Jesus, 
turning, said to her, "Mary," — and the truth burst upon 
her, it was her Lord ! That moment of transport is the 
time the artist has seized for the representation of the 
kneeling and rejoicing Mary and Jesus. The love and 
tenderness in his look, the joy and reverence in hers ! 
What beauty, too : how the yellow hair falls in living lustre 
on her fair shoulders, and her eyes speak the full expres- 
sion of her yearning soul. " Jesus said unto her, ' Mary.' " 

In another hall I found a picture of great merit, unmen- 
tioned by the guide-book, and by a painter unknown to me 
even by name before. It is a Virgin and Child, with four 
venerable saints kneeling before them. The artist is Bias 
del PrMo. Few pictures in any gallery deserve more admi- 
ration than this. The heads of the old men are done with 
great power, and the thoughtful feeling in the face of the 
Virgin shows that the artist had both the genius to con- 
ceive, and the skill to create, an idea on the canvas, quite 
equal to the best of many others who have won a world- . 
wide fame. And scattered through these long apartments, 
in narrow halls and basement rooms, in bad lights, and 
some almost in the dark, are many gems of rare value, 
" blushing unseen," and worth a better place, and deserv- 
ing wider renown. It would be tedious to read even a brief 
mention of the celebrated pictures of the famous old masters 
here, and that form so large a part of the attractions of 
Europe. 

There are very few minor galleries in Madrid. Probably 
there has been a lack both of private wealth and taste to 
make collections. In one of these we found Murillo's 



52 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

" Queen Isabel of Hungary healing the Lepers," a picture 
that would be admired as one of his greatest and best, if it 
were not so true to life as to make one almost sick to look 
at it. But this is the height of the highest art. Birds have 
been deceived by painted fruit. Bees have sought honey in 
flowers on the walls. And perhaps this cheating of the 
senses, even to disgust, is the perfection of human skill. 
But the imitation of the material is easy. If portrait paint- 
ing were merely the reproduction of the form and features, 
it is the lowest department of the art. But to conceive 
the expression that belongs to the character of a saint, a 
prophet, a hero, a sibyl, a Madonna, and thus to create an 
ideal that will demonstrate its reality and truthfulness to an 
unbelieving or indifferent world, challenging admiration 
and asserting its own immortality, this is the attribute of 
genius only, and such is not the birth of every day or age. 



TOLEDO. 53 



CHAPTER VI. 

TOLEDO — ITS FLEAS, LANDLORDS, ANTIQUITIES, AND 
LUNATICS. 

TGNORANT of the state of civilization in the ancient 
-*• city of Toledo, the capital of Gothic Spain, the glory 
of the Jews and the Moors when they lived luxuriously on 
its airy heights, we had imagined it easy enough to find 
lodgings for a night. Unconscious of the fate awaiting 
us, we put up at the Hotel Lino, the largest and best in 
the city ; and here we sought sleep. The search was vain. 
For the fleas are always going about seeking whom they 
may devour. We fell a prey to them and to the landlords 
too. Surviving the bloody night, we left a weary, wretched 
bed at eight in the morning, and ordered breakfast with 
coffee. At nine it was announced as ready. In the room 
where it was served three waiters attended us, each one 
smoking a cigar in our faces, as we sat and they stood 
around. The coffee was not on the table. On asking for 
it we were told there was none in the house. 

" And is there none in Toledo ? " 

." Perhaps so." 

" Well, we will wait until you bring it. Give us some 
butter." 

" There is no butter in the house." 

" Is there none in Toledo ? " 

" None that is fit to eat ; it is all rancid." 

After a time some wretched stuff for coffee was brought 
from a restaurant, and we made a breakfast, paid as much 



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TOLEDO. 55 

for it as if we had been in Paris, and left the house in dis- 
gust. 

The city stands on a hill ; it is up, up, up, in a succession 
of narrow, irregular, crooked", clean, and curious streets, 
showing at every step the vestiges of successive stages of 
civilization, and often suddenly revealing monuments of 
departed peoples that arrest the attention and excite won- 
dering interest. The Goths succeeded the Romans. The 
Moors drove out the Goths, and, like eagles perched among 
these rocks, defied the storms of centuries. Here the 
master of empires, the great Charles V., reigned in gran- 
deur, and gave laws to the world. It is a fitting place for 
such a history as it has ; and no other city has a more 
romantic life. Indeed, romance has done so much to 
embellish the story of Toledo, it is difficult to be in it, and 
study it here on its own rocks, without asking for its 
enchanted towers, and haunted caves, and knights, with 
magic swords and spectre horses, and its 200,000 mighty 
men and beautiful women, that once made this castle- 
crowned crag the glory of Spain, and as famous in the 
earth as Babylon or Damascus. 

It is more Oriental in its appearance than any city we 
have yet seen in Spain. But it is too far north, and too 
far up in the air, to be adapted to the life of Orientals. Its 
houses are usually low; and they have the court in the 
midst of them, out of which doors open into the several 
apartments. Many of them are very old, five hundred 
years, at least, and repetitions of those that stood on the 
same site before ; for this reproduction of itself, from age 
to age, is a feature of the peoples and climes with which 
Scripture history has made us famihar. Many of these old 
houses are fine specimens of the Moorish manner of build- 
ing ; but with this, perhaps the predominant style, is 
blended more or less of the Roman, the Gothic, and the 
Saracenic, and every style except the modern ; for Toledo 



$6 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

is a city of the dead past, and no resurrection is before it. 
The Spanish chroniclers claim that Toledo was founded at 
the same time with the creation of the world, but who lived 
in it before the human race was made they do not help us 
to understand. Others less ambitious find that Nebuchad- 
nezzar, and others that Hercules, laid the first stones. 

The last of the Goths who sat on the throne of Toledo 
was Roderick. And when weighed down with the guilt of 
a seducer and a betrayer of his friend, he went forth from 
Toledo in his chariot of ivory, and, with his mailed legions, 
marched to the banks of the Guadalquiver, and at Guadalete 
encountered the flood of Moorish barbarism just then set- 
ting in upon Spain, he disappeared, the city began its 
downward career, and no emperors, no bishops, no kings, 
have since been able to purge it from the sin and the shame 
of the perfidious Roderick. 

In after centuries, when the Moors were expelled and the 
cross again supplanted the crescent, the archbishops of 
Toledo were more than kings, and lived here in luxury, and 
wealth, and grandeur, without a parallel in the history of 
the church. Great patrons of art and science, they founded 
universities and cultivated the arts of peace, while they 
were often plunging the country into war, which they 
waged with valor and skill. Under them the city reached 
a degree of splendor unsurpassed in the dreamy reign of 
Oriental voluptuousness and taste. But when it succumbed, 
as it did to the great German Czar, and the court was 
removed to Valladolid, its sun went down, never to rise 
again. 

The cathedral is a glory, even in Spain, which is richer 
in cathedrals than any other country. Toledo has always 
been favored by the Romish Church. It is believed by 
many that the Virgin Mary came down from heaven, in 
person, to attend the investiture of one of its archbishops, 
and there is not to be found a grander and more beautiful 



TOLEDO. 57 

Gothic temple than this. As we entered it the dim light 
that was chasing away the shades from among the vast 
columns and the lofty arches gradually brightened as we 
became more accustomed to it, and a sense of majestic pro- 
portions and solemn grandeur took possession of the soul. 
A service was in progress, and we paused till it was con- 
cluded, for it matters not what the form of religious worship, 
and however much our views may differ from those engaged 
in it, it is unseemly to be gazing at the temple while its 
ministers are serving at its altar. In the midst of the ser- 
vice a priest was receiving a young woman's confession. 
As she put up her lips to his ear to whisper her penitential 
words, she beat upon her breast with one hand, as if she 
were in agony of soul. Her tale of sin completed, she rose 
from her knees, bowed low again, kissed her confessor's 
extended hand, and went away. 

Toledo and its priesthood have been famous for their 
devotion to the strictest orders and dogmas of the church, 
till Rome itself scarcely stands higher for holiness and 
orthodoxy. In the disputes that have at different times 
agitated the Romish communion, they have not been afraid 
to appeal directly to the judgment of God, and to claim his 
verdict in their favor. In the great contest about the proper 
form of words in the mass, when the old missals were used 
in Spain, in spite of the orders to substitute the Gregorian 
mass, or the Roman improved form, the first appeal to the 
divine judgment was in favor of Toledo, and the early mis- 
sals. Again the trial was demanded ; and the old and newer 
missals were brought out, great folio volumes, into one of 
the public squares, and, in presence of the city, fire was 
applied to them. The older was burnt to ashes, and the 
newer survived the ordeal. Toledo was not willing to abide 
even by this very conclusive test, and finally it was settled 
by blending the two masses into one. 

Their richest and most sacred chapel in the cathedral is 



58 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

the Muzarabe, or Mixed Arabic ; so called because it was 
built to preserve the forms of the old Gothic service, such 
as was used when the Goths consented to live under the 
dominion of the Moors while allowed their own religious 
rites. In this cathedral lie the ashes, and over them are 
the tombs of some of the early kings of Spain, and several 
of those grand archbishops whose reign was not less kingly 
than that of kings. Cardinal Albornoz died in Italy, and 
the Pope sent his body home to be buried here. To save 
the expense of transportation, for there was no express 
company, not even a steamboat then (1364) to bring it, — 
Urban V. issued a decree granting a plenary indulgence to 
all who would lend a hand in carrying the dead cardinal on 
his long journey. Gladly did the poor peasantry bear the 
body on their shoulders from one town to another till it 
reached Toledo. In front of one of the chapels I was sud- 
denly arrested by a strange Latin inscription in a brass 
jDlate in the pavement. It was in these words : — 

" HiC JACET PULVIS, CINIS, NULLUS." 

Here lies dust, ashes, nothing else. Over the bones of 
one of the most powerful cardinals who ever reigned in 
Spain, and himself called a king maker, the epitaph is 
eloquent : perhaps an affectation, however, of humility, a 
virtue for which Fernandez de Portocarrero was not illus- 
trious in his life. 

The Virgin Mary has been pleased to come, from heaven 
to this cathedral, as I have said, and if any one doubts it, 
he can see the very stone on which she first set foot as she 
alighted from her aerial excursion. And now the faithful 
kiss this precious stone, touching with their loving lips the 
very spot which her foot once pressed. Her image is clad 
with gold and precious stones and costly raiment, crowns 
and bracelets and chains, the gifts of royal hands, and the 
greatest ladies of the kingdom are her maids of honor. On 



TOLEDO. 



59 



gala-days she is borne in state through the streets, and 
honors are paid to her at every step, as the Queen of 
Queens. 

A sleepy old porter let us into the Alcazar. Al-casa- 
czar is the house of Caesar, or the czar's house, the king's 
house, the palace. 




The Alcazar. 



The palace, or what was once a palace, crowns the sum- 
mit of the hill on which the old city of Toledo stands. 
Around the base of the rock below the Tagus rushes 
rapidly, and away in every direction stretches the wide 
plain, gloomy, desolate, and yet grand in its storied past. 
It is not certain that the Moorish, still less certain that the 



60 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

Gothic kings preceding them, had their royal residence on 
this bleak height.. But the Catholic kings for centuries 
held their courts on this spot, and the prints of their hands 
are visible everywhere. The porter who opened the door 
for us is a model of a Spanish official. Too proud to be a 
door-keeper, and, with nothing else to do, he would impress 
even a stranger with the idea that he was born with a 
higher destiny than to tend a gate. It was a pleasure to 
him, evidently, to tell us we must not go here, nor there, 
nor anywhere, except where it was of no use to go ; and 
the scanty information he was willing to impart was ex- 
tracted with difficulty, and worth nothing then. 

We stood in the midst of a spacious square, the patio, or 
court, and on its four sides rose the walls of the ancient 
palace. Charles V. and Philip II. rebuilt the most of it on 
the ruins holding some of the apartments that date as far 
back as Alonzo X. ; and in modern times the hoof of the 
war demon has trodden the stairways and galleries and 
gorgeous halls, until what with English and French sol- 
diery, and some of other nations more barbarous still, the 
Alcazar of Toledo is a more comfortable residence for bats 
and owls than kings and fair princesses. Two or three 
proud peacocks were strutting in the warm sunshine of the 
patio, displaying their gaudy plumes and arching their 
graceful necks, reminding us of other beauties who had 
often gone blazing through these doors, with radiant jewels 
and shining robes, yet, in all their glory, were not arrayed 
like one of these. This -patio shows, on its four sides, two 
rows of galleries, one over the other, supported each of 
them by thirty arches, with columns crowned v/ith Corin- 
thian capitals, embellished with the arms of the many 
kingdoms that Charles V. had conquered. A staircase, 
designed by Philip II. while he was in England, and built 
under orders sent by him while there, leads up to the royal 
apartments, long since deserted, and now worth seeing only 



TOLEDO. 6l 

because they were once the home of men and women 
whose names are part of the history of the world. 

An Enghsh gentleman said to me in the rail-car in 
Spain one day, " I should be glad to have you tell me 
what it is that impresses you the most in coming from 
America and travelling in Europe." I answered that it 
required some time to make a fitting reply to so great an 
inquiry. " Well," he said, " will you take fifteen minutes 
to think, and then give me the result ? " I replied, " I am 
ready to answer now: what impresses me more than all 
else is, that these old countries, having been what they 
once were, are wAa^ I find them now.'^ 

It is the law of the earth, I suppose, and what has been 
will be, and so on to the end of time. 

We left the melancholy palace to its porter, its peacocks, 
and the bats, and wound our way down and around the 
corkscrew streets, narrow, close, and dirty, admiring the 
ancient Moorish gates and doors, studded with iron balls. 
The older doors have two knockers, one high for a horse- 
man to use without dismounting ; and, the gate being 
opened, he would ride right into the court. We were look- 
ing for the Church of San Juan de los Reyes, and soon 
found it, a church that dates back to the Moorish-Gothic 
period, or the time when the severity of Gothic grandeur 
was adorned with the more florid embellishments which 
Moorish art introduced into Spain. On the outer walls are 
suspended the massive iron chains which were found on 
the limbs of the Christian captives when Granada was 
conquered by Ferdinand and Isabella; and the rescued 
prisoners hung up their chains on this church as thank- 
offerings. And still farther down the hill we come to the 
Bridge of St. Martin, and here are plainly the ruins of 
the old Moorish castle and palace. A square tower on 
the water's edge bears the name, to this day, Floriiide, and 
tradition says it was here that Roderick unluckily saw her 



62 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

while she was bathing. The rest of the story we have 
hinted at already. 

Irving, in his bewitching Spanish tales, gives a marvel- 
lous account of the Cave of Hercules, which is said to 
extend three leagues beyond the river, and is full of 
chapels and genii and enchanted warriors. To visit it 
has cost kings their crowns ; and the terrible sounds that 
are heard, and the rushing winds assailing the bold ex- 
plorer, make the attempt too formidable for modern valor. 
The entrance is from the Church de San Gines, but is now 
walled up. In fact, it was never unwalled, except in the 
fancies of romantic historians. 

One day, long time ago, as the Cid was riding through 
Toledo, his horse stopped suddenly, and knelt before a wall 
built against a bank of earth. The hill was opened, and 
within was found a niche, and in the niche an image of the 
Saviour, with the same lamps burning in it which the Goths 
had put there long centuries agone. A Moorish mosque is 
standing opposite, which has been converted into a Chris- 
tian church, and in it the first mass was celebrated in 1805. 
It takes its name from the legend of the Cid, and is called 
Christo de la Luz. It is perhaps the smallest church in 
Toledo, only twenty-two feet square, yet the quaintest and 
most curious thing to be found in the city ; short columns 
support arches in the shape of a horse-shoe, and three narrow 
naves, crossing each other, cut up the church into nine 
vaults. There is nothing in it worth seeing. 

It took us half an hour to find the sacristan to open the 
door of Santo Tome, or St. Thomas, where we went to see 
a famous picture by El Grecco, a burial scene, of consider- 
able power, and were it not that Spain has hundreds of 
finer pictures than this, it would be worth the time it cost 
us to see it. 

Passing through the Zodocover, the largest public square 
in the city, where in the " good old times " of torture for 



TOLEDO. 63 

the church, the poor unbehevers in papal faith have been 
made spectacles before the world, I met a boy with a pop- 
gun, anxious to show his skill in shooting with that formi- 
dable weapon. Yielding to his urgent desires, I set up a 
bit of money which he was to hit and take. A dense 
crowd, a hundred certainly, were the idle gazers on this 
ridiculous scene, forming a ring around me and the boy ! 
I confess to a sense of great amusement when I stood 
where cardinals and bishops and priests, with armed 
soldiers and executioners, had burnt heretics in sight of 
kings, and multitudes thronging the tiers of balconies that 
look down into this square. It was certainly more human, 
not to say Christian, for me to divert this idle crowd by 
setting up coppers for a boy to shoot at with a pop-gun, 
than for my illustrious predecessors to entertain the popu- 
lace of Toledo with the sight of martyrs burning at a stake. 
Tired of walking, for Toledo is so up-and-down, that you 
might as well ride on a ladder, we entered a cafe for refresh- 
ments. In the wide, open court was a deep well sunk into 
the solid rock on which the city stands, and the water 
thereof was as cool and sparkling and delicious as that 
which the woman of Samaria gave to him who told her all 
things that ever she did. The saloon was fifty feet long or 
more, filled with marble-top tables, and men were eating 
and drinking, playing dominoes, and smoking. It was 
toward the close of the day. Of all the people there, none 
called for spirits, scarcely any asked for wine. Coffee and 
chocolate were the principal drinks. There was no noise, 
no gambling. It was chilly, and the servant brought in a 
brazier filled with live coals, and set it near us. Others 
drew around it, as they did in the high priest's court-yard 
when Peter denied his Lord. Many Oriental customs 
brought in by the Moors are still retained in Spain. I 
made an excuse for wandering up to the house-top, and 
found the houses so closely built against each other, with 



64 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

no intervening spaces, that you could easily look into your 
neighbor's, and sometimes see what was quite as well not 
seen. 

While here we looked about for some specimens of the 
famous blades, which have made Toledo as celebrated as 
Damascus itself in this line. But we found nothing worth 
seeing. The manufactory of arms is outside of the town, 
and has no reputation beyond that of others in Spain. 
England or Connecticut will furnish as perfect a sword 
to-day as Toledo. Yet this is only another, and a very 
striking illustration of what Spain is, compared with what 
Spain was. As far back as under the Romans, Toledo had 
a character for the perfection of its weapons of steel. The 
Toledo blade has been a proverb for temper ever since. 

The idea has prevailed, and the workers in metals in 
Toledo have not been unwilling to encourage it, that the 
w^aters of the river Tagus have virtues to impart peculiar 
firmness to the steel that is cooled in them. The manu- 
facturers, of course, have long been constituted into a guild, 
or corporation, and the secrets of the trade preserved with 
care. So long ago as in the ninth tentury Abdur-rhaman 
II. gave a great impulse to the art in Toledo, and its fame 
was spread still wider. A thousand years have rolled away 
since that time, and now, in the nineteenth century, they 
do not make as good weapons as they did then. 

In the museum at Madrid we saw the splendid swords 
which the famous warriors of Spain have worn, and, in the 
saloon of the Director of the Generaliffe, in Granada, the 
identical sword of Boabdil, the last of the Moorish kings ; 
but they make no such steel now. Indeed, the steel they 
use is imported from England, just as they keep up the 
stock of horses and cattle and sheep, by importations 
from other countries. It is very probable that long, thin 
blades, that may be curled up like a ribbon, can be produced 
in China, or Persia, or Sheffield, as well as here. The men 



LUNATICS. 65 

of Milan and Florence made as good swords as these. The 
use of fire-arms naturally diminishes the value of 'a sword 
as a weapon of war. 

Spanish people do not go crazy ! Now and then there 
is a lunatic in Spain, but, as compared with the United 
States, or England, or France, the Spanish people manage 
to keep what wits they have. Just outside of Toledo there 
is a lunatic asylum. It is the successor of the one that 
Don Quixote ought to have been kept in, and which is 
mentioned in that knight-errant' s biography, the first work 
of fiction that I ever perused, and which then, in childhood, 
fired me with a desire to visit Spain. Don Quixote was 
crazy ; and there may be thousands crazy whom the world 
do not reckon so. 

In London the latest tables show that one person in 
every 200 is insane. In Paris one in every 222 is in a lun- 
atic asylum, or ought to be. In Madrid, the capital of 
Spain, only one in every 3,350. In the year i860 there 
were 2,384 lunatics in Spain, when the population "was 
15,673,481 ; and this would show one insane person to 
6,566 inhabitants. In 1864 there were 3,818 persons in 
houses for the insane, but they do not regulate these insti- 
tutions with the same strictness that prevails in some other 
countries, and they confine in them many of those criminals 
who would otherwise be let loose on the community to 
pursue their career of crime under the cloak of monomania. 
It would therefore appear, and there is no good reason to 
doubt the fact, that comparatively little insanity exists in 
Spain. One report of 1861 gives the following as the 
percentage of the cases, when pathologically classified: 
"Maniac exaltation, 31.91 ; monomaniacs, 11 ; melancholy, 
6; derangement of mental faculties, 20.53; imbecility, 
6.15; epileptic madness, 11; undetermined, 10.41." 

The medical faculty will understand this classification, 
but I do not know the difference between some of the 

5 



66 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

sections into which the victims are thus divided. But 
when we come to the proximate causes of insanity, we are 
in a region level to the uninstructed mind, and here we 
find that moral and mental excitements growing out of love, 
such as jealousy and disappointment, are prolific causes : 
that physical ailments badly attended or wholly neglected 
frequently result in derangement ; and the political tur- 
moils of the State are followed by the same effects. But, 
on the other hand, there are at least three common causes 
of insanity in the United States, and probably in England 
also, that have a limited, if any, influence in Spain. These 
are religious excitements, haste to be rich, and intemper- 
ance in drinking. In Spain they take things easily. The 
people do not work the brain unduly in matters of religion 
or trade. The church takes care of the souls of the people : 
the law or the government excludes all disturbing elements 
that might come from the efforts of others to proselyte the 
people, and in their ignorance of any other way of getting 
to heaven than the church teaches them, they are quiet 
on that subject. Religion never made any one crazy; 
on the contrary, it has soothed the madness and healed the 
malady of many a crazed brain and distracted soul. But 
the wild and unenlightened excitement, begotten of blind 
fanaticism and erroneous teaching, has often driven men 
and women mad, as statistics of American insanity fear- 
fully show. And in Spain there is not energy enough, not 
life enough, to make speculation dangerous in philosophy, 
morals, or even in money. I think it very unlikely that 
they will ever go wild after tulips, or mulberries, or 
petroleum. They are making railroads, but the French 
and English furnish the capital and send the engineers. 
And the great safety-valve, or rather the great preserver 
of the people's intellects, is found in the fact that they 
are never in a hurry about any thing. The old Romans 
had a good motto, Festina lente^ hasten slowly ; but the 



LUNATICS. 6j 

Spaniards never hasten at all. They despise punctuality. 
An hour after the time when a positive appointment 
had been made with me, a man in Seville said, when I 
told him I had been waiting, " Why, the Queen never 
comes till an hour after the time announced for her arrival." 
And this utter indifference to the value of time, which is 
money all the world over, begets, or is begotten, for it is 
hard to say if it be the cause or the effect, of that perfect 
sense of ease, content with one's condition, idle careless- 
ness, that dismisses all anxiety for the future. Such people 
do not go crazy. 

And far above all other immediate causes of insanity in 
northern climes, is the use of spirituous liquors. The 
scholar drinks to keep up his mental fire, and when he 
becomes insane his malady is marked " excessive study." 
The banker or merchant drinks too much, and when he is 
put into an asylum his madness is ascribed to his devotion 
to his business. The millions of our people drink, drink, 
drink, — and this vice of the north of Europe and of 
America yields thousands on thousands of cases of insanity 
every year. But in those countries where cheap wines, 
with little alcohol in them, are the common drink of the 
people, intemperance is comparatively rare. An English 
engineer, employing hundreds of men in building and 
repairing Spanish railways, assured me that intemperance 
is wholly unknown among them. The class of men who 
would be the most addicted to the vice with us in the United 
States, are here more temperate than any class of people in 
England or America. It is not to be supposed that this tem- 
perance is the result solely of the culture of the vine and 
the abundance of weak wine. It would be a false conclusion, 
from very inadequate premises, to infer such an idea. It 
is due in most part to the climate itself, which is at once 
favorable to the vine, and unfavorable to that elevation or 
excitement which strong drink begets. And in this de- 



68 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

lightful clime, where to live and breathe is a luxury, and to 
keep cool is at once a virtue and a joy, the heating stimulus 
of ardent spirits would not be sought as one of the pleas- 
urable vices of the land. 

Therefore, and to this conclusion we are easily led, the 
people here in Spain are not likely to be, as a general thing, 
insane. And if we of colder climes could be so humble as 
to take a lesson from poor, old, decrepit Spain, we might 
learn from these facts to moderate our desires, to pursue 
the good we seek with less haste and more speed, to use 
the world as not abusing it, and resting now and then, 
avoid the lunatic asylum on our journey to the grave. 

At dusk we went to the station to take our departure 
from Toledo. In the train going up to Madrid was a large 
party of young men. Noisy, boisterous, rude, they cheered 
every lady who came to the cars, calling out to the good- 
looking ones to come to their apartment, and making sport 
of others ; and all this with a freedom and indecorum that 
would not be tolerated even in our land of universal liberty. 
I was surprised both at their impudence and its impunity, 
and asked who the fellows were. 

" Oh," said Antanazio, " they are college boys : the same 
all the world over ! " 

Even so, I do believe. 



I 



LA MANCHA. 69 



CHAPTER VII. 

LA MANCHA — ANDALUSIA. 

A S I took my seat in a " first-class " car and left Toledo, 
"^ ^ a gentleman in the same compartment asked me, 
" Is smoking disagreeable to you ? " 

It was the first time that such a question had been put to 
me in Spain. I had heard it proposed to a lady, some days 
before, but generally no one pretends to ask the privilege of 
smoking in the cars, or the parlor, or anywhere. Every- 
body smokes, everywhere. It is not interdicted in any 
department of any railway carriage. Occasionally, in some 
hotels, I notice a rule posted in the dining-room, " Smoking 
not allowed." But nobody heeds it. An attempt to en- 
force it would probably lead to the sudden departure of all 
Spanish guests from the house. At the largest and best 
hotel in Madrid, sixty or seventy persons, ladies and gen- 
tlemen, were at dinner, (table-d'hote), and in the midst 
of dinner, between the courses, gentlemen lighted their 
cigarettes, smoked them, and resumed their eating. Yet the 
notice forbidding smoking was in full view, or was until 
the clouds of smoke obscured it. In the reading-rooms of 
the hotels, oftentimes small and unventilated, nine out of 
ten are smoking all the time, and the thought never occurs 
to one of them that this may be a nuisance to others. I 
am told, that at the theatres in Spain, in the midst of the 
play, the audience smoke in their seats, and if any man- 
agers attain to such a moderate height of civilization as to 
publish a rule restraining the odious habit, the Dons of 



70 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

Spain pay no sort of attention to it. All attempts at re- 
form end only in smoke. 

I asked Antanazio if smoking is allowed in the churches 
of Spain. " Oh no, no," he answered, with a pious horror; 
" it was shocking to think of such a desecration." " Then," 
said I, " when I come to Spain to live, I will get a little 
church for myself, for nowhere else in this country can a 
man find refuge from this intolerable nuisance." 

" Ah, yes," he replied ; " but perhaps the incense will 
make a smoke quite as disagreeable as the American^Q.^^r 

This was a double hit, as it reminded me of my Protes- 
tant aversion to incense in churches, and also of the fact 
that the weed and the habit of using it came from my part 
of the world. 

By this time the compartment was so densely filled with 
smoke that I opened the window and put out my head for 
breath, as a signal of distress, in the hope, but vain, of 
enlisting the sympathies of the smokers, and inducing 
them to forego their pleasures while I recovered. I de- 
tected grim smiles of satisfaction on the dark faces of my 
fellow-travellers, who puffed away the more vigorously, as 
they looked on my woe-begone face. 

Perhaps by advertising a reward for the discovery, it 
might be possible to find a man in Spain who does not 
smoke.. Yet, strange to say, the culture of tobacco in 
Spain is forbidden by law. The soil and climate are favor- 
able, and its cultivation has been a great success. But by 
that kind of legislation or decree peculiar to Spain, and 
constantly reminding one of the Chinese, the mother coun- 
try, Spain, is prohibited from raising tobacco in order that 
the daughter, Cuba, may have the monopoly. The right of 
importation is sold to contractors, who make a great busi- 
ness of it. In the middle of the fifteenth century the 
Spaniards began to get tobacco from America, and they 
have been getting more and more of it ever since. In i860 



LA MANCHA. yi 

they smoked seven millions of cigars, and cigars are not the 
thing they usually smoke. They have their tobacco rolled 
up in little bits of paper, and these they carry in their 
pockets, with matches. Often they carry the tobacco and 
the paper separately, and make a cigarette when they want 
it, making one while smoking another. These interesting 
manufactures are not peculiar to Spain ; they are common 
in our own country, but not so general. The weed is used 
only for smoking and snuffing in Spain. I cannot learn that 
it is chewed at all. 

Children smoke at an earlier age in Spain than in other 
countries. It is not uncommon for them to begin at six, or 
even five years of age. And they never leave it off till they 
die. Ladies smoke. Not often do we see them with a 
cigarette in their pretty mouths on the street or in the 
cars, but in the cafe and in the drawing-room they enjoy 
it, as well as in the boudoir and the bath. By cool foun- 
tains, in a marble-paved patio, among the orange-trees, or 
lolling at noon on their silken-hung couches, they love to 
smoke, and their lords have spoiled their own breaths and 
taste too effectually to make any objection. Where both 
eat garlic it amounts to the same thing. 

In Seville we saw a tobacco factory, erected more than a 
hundred years ago, at a cost of nearly two millions of dollars 
then! It is 652 feet long and 524 feet wide. Five thou- 
sand persons are at work in it all the time, putting the im- 
ported tobacco into cigars or cigarettes, and making snuff, 
and they use two millions of pounds of tobacco every year. 
Most of these workers are women. Mothers who bring 
their children have nursery arrangements provided for 
them during the hours of work. But the most of them are 
young women, a class by themselves, known as cigareras^ 
or cigar-girls. Smart at their busmess in the factory, they 
are wild as hawks and gay as larks at the bull-fight on Sun- 
days, or the dance on the green. This is the largest estab- 



72 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

lishment of the kind in Spain, and produces as good an 
article as any other, but the cigars made in Spain are not 
as popular with good judges as those brought directly from 
Cuba. The manufacturers there prefer sending the best 
to London, New York, or Paris, where they find a readier 
market for the high-priced article. And the Cubans are as 
cute in concocting peculiar flavors for their cigars, as the 
French or the Italians for their wines, or Jerseymen for 
their cider. The connoisseur in tobacco pays a quarter of 
a dollar (more or less) for a " first-rate " cigar, and smokes 
it with delicious enjoyment at his club, or after dinner in 
his study, rejoicing in the dreamy, balmy languor that 
softly steals upon his senses, soothes his nerves, and 
makes him sweetly oblivious of the cares and toils of the 
day just passed. He is sure it does him good. And he 
does not know, and will not believe when he is told, what 
every one knows who looks into the subject to learn, that 
at the very root and source of the business there is as 
much concoction of tobacco as there is of coffee or wine. 
Potash and soda are in abundant use to impart peculiar 
pungency to the plant. And many in the excited atmos- 
phere of New York or London life demand a sedative 
cigar more soporific than the narcotic plant in its natural 
state. For them, cigars are made of tobacco leaves steeped 
in opium. Many of our clergymen, renowned for eloquence 
and piety and learning, denounce with blazing zeal the 
baneful practice of smoking or chewing opium^ a habit 
becoming almost as common in the United States as in 
China. But these same excellent men are daily smoking 
opium in their cigars, quite unconscious of the evils, physi- 
cal and mental, they are gradually but surely inhaling with 
every breath they draw through this venomous weed. The 
cigar burns freely when first lighted, its ashes are grayish 
white, and the ring is faint at the end, the smoke rises 
lightly, and the taste, if any, is nearly imperceptible ; there- 



LA MANCHA. 73 

fore they know it is a good cigar. But the opium-eater is 
not more surely a suicide than they. Dyspepsia often fol- 
lows ; and nervous debility, despondency, melancholy, in- 
somnia, maladies supposed to be relieved by what is their 
producing cause. Epilepsy and apoplexy are not unknown 
effects. 

We now cross the wide pastoral regions of La Mancha. 
Readers of Don Quixote recollect these plains as the scene 
of many a gallant exploit by the knight-errant who took his 
title from this province. And we had no sooner called him 
to mind than we saw a windmill, and then another, and 
soon many more, brandishing their huge arms, as when the 
crazy hero supposed them to be challenging him to fight, 
and with mad courage rushed to the encounter. Flocks of 
sheep are roaming over the plains as when he mistook them 
for hostile armies. His trusty squire Sancho proposed that 
they should wait until they saw which side was likely to 
come off conqueror, and join that ; but the hero of the 
windmill denounced the counsel as worthy only of a craven, 
insisting it would be more becoming a valiant knight to 
join the weaker side, and insure it the victory. 

No trees are seen. This is the peculiar feature of the 
Spanish landscape. Across vast plains that reach the 
horizon the eye seeks in vain to find a single tree to relieve 
the monotony of the view. And when the hills stretch 
away in graceful lines, bending and rising with voluptuous 
swells that seem to be carved and set against the sky, they 
are destitute of trees. In centuries past these have been 
stripped off, and none have been planted since ; and the 
country is as bare as the back of your hand. 

The sheep are tended by shepherds, who migrate from 
the higher to the lower pastures, according to the season 
of the year. They constitute a large part of the wealth 
of the people. Ten years ago there were seventeen mil- 
lions of sheep in Spain. The number is, doubtless, much 



74 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN, 

greater now. The wool trade of Spain was at one time of 
vast importance to the world, but England and Germany 
now far outstrip it, and the trade with Syria, in the coarser 
wools, has opened an outlet for the produce of Lebanon and 
the plains of Mesopotamia. 

Corn, including cereals of all kinds, does well in this 
central part of Spain. It thrives in spite of the stupidest, 
or rather the most primitive style of agriculture, still pre- 
vailing. " Tickle the ground with a hoe," and the crop 
will spring. But there is little tickling done with a hoe. 
They plough to this day with a tree, the root sticking into 
the ground and scratching it a little ; or they leave a branch 
shooting out at an angle from the stem of the tree, and 
sometimes they cover this stick with a bit of iron, and with 
mules or oxen drag it along the field. They sow broadcast, 
and plough it under. They use no harrows. It is barely 
possible that one of the modern civilized ploughs has found 
its way into Spain, but I saw none, and heard of nothing 
better than the but-end of a small elm-tree. Yet agri- 
culture is the great business of Spain, suited to the habits 
and genius of the people, who love the sun and enjoy the 
open air, and dislike trade or mechanics of any kind. And 
more than any other people in Europe the Spanish do as 
their fathers did, despising all innovations as unworthy of 
their ancestral dignity. The farmers of Virgil and Homer, 
and the rural scenes which are described in the Old Testa- 
ment Scriptures, are the counterpart of what may be seen 
in Spain to-day. I am reminded daily of the fields in Asia 
Minor, in Syria, and Greece. If it were strange that im- 
provements in husbandry had made very little progress 
there, much more surprising it is to find that all things in 
this country continue to be as they were. They are so 
near the rest of the world, and the means of communication 
are now so ready, it is a marvel of marvels that they are still 
in the same ruts their fathers were in a thousand years ago. 



LA MANCHA. " 75 

But there are signs of better times. The law of primo- 
geniture has been abolished, and this new measure tends 
rapidly to the multiplication of owners of real estate. The 
lands of the church have been sold and divided. Vast 
tracts held by the crown have also been distributed by law 
among the people, at a moderate price. Agricultural soci- 
eties have been formed, and cattle shows and fairs are 
becoming common. These things are in the right direc- 
tiono The government has established agricultural schools 
and model farms. A few periodicals are published, with 
the intent of spreading useful information among the 
people; and those who can read will get some good out 
of them. 

After crossing the plains of La Mancha we reach the 
Sierra Morena range of mountains, and are to work our 
way through and over them. The daring of the engineers 
who would push a road into such recesses is prodigious. 
The precipices are frightful. Peaks of mountains start up 
suddenly, and seem to pierce the clouds. Rocks of gigantic 
grandeur rise abruptly, and sometimes stand apart in soli- 
tary dignity. Deep gorges are to be spanned by the iron 
road. Long and frequent galleries lead, in gloomy state, 
through the bowels of the mountains. The road is sub- 
lime, if safe, and it appears to be well made. We come to 
a bridge under repairs. All the passengers are requested 
to walk. In single file we march over the bridge, and then 
await the train. It comes across, lightened of its load, 
slowly and safely. It is quite likely that in America the 
engineer would have put on all steam, and dashed across in 
a second, or, if not, he would have gone down a hundred 
feet, into a frightful chasm, and the verdict, if any were 
sought, would have been, " nobody to blame." Fret as we 
do about the railroad management in Europe, it is safer and 
surer than ours. They err generally on the safe side, pro- 
voKing us by their delays, but very rarely breaking our 



'jS ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

necks. And, on the whole, their way of doing things is 
the best. 

At Manjibar we stopped for lunch, or breakfast, or din- 
ner, whichsoever any one might call it. It was hard to say 
where or when our last meal was, and what was the name 
of this. Still more difficult was it to ascertain the names 
of the dishes set before us. One dish had been chicken, 
but in some advanced stage of its post-mortem existence it 
had been consigned to a bath of pickle, and was now offered 
for our consumption. A single taste sufficed. It probably 
returned to its brine, to wait a bolder customer, with a 
better appetite. Then they gave us a stew. I suggested 
that it was hare. My companion thought it a cat. I gave 
it the benefit of the doubt, and turned away. The price of 
this meal that we tried in vain to eat, was the same as the 
table-d'hote dinner at many hotels in Paris, — four francs. 

Sick, I went into the air. I sat down on a trunk out- 
side, sighing for other lands, and something to eat. A ser- 
vant came out and drove me off the trunk, saying, " It is 
forbidden to sit here." Into the waiting-room I directed 
my steps. It was full of dirty, disgusting people, some of 
them beggars, some gypsies, some in queer costumes, some 
in rags. The fragrance was too much for me, and I walked 
out again. Over the way was a table with candies and 
liquors to be sold. It was in front of a door that opened 
into the side of a hill. There was no' other sign of a 
house. I went across the railway, and entered the open 
door. It let me into a small room, nicely cemented above 
and on all sides ; a fire in a neat arrangement for it, and a 
chimney reaching out of the ground above. A man was 
sitting by the fire ; a babe was in a cradle ; the wife was 
busthng about. It was a very comfortable affair. Another 
room was the bed-chamber ; and a third was a storeroom ; 
and the three completed the underground cottage. In 
other climates it might be damp. Here it was dry enough ; 



ANDALUSIA. 



17 



cool in summer and warm in winter. I spent a few minutes 
very cheerfully with these people, and they seemed to be 
pleased with a visit from a stranger. It was a far better 
house than the rude huts we had seen on the way. 

We are now in Andalusia, and in one of the worst parts 
of Spain. True, it is Andalusia, and the very sound of 
the name is musical, suggesting beauty and pastoral 
delights. But in the province of Jaen, and we are near 
the city of that name, out of a population of 360,000, more 
than 300,000 are unable to read ; and as ignorance and 
crime go hand in hand, the number of murders is between 
350 and 400 every year, and nearly as many robberies. 
Such is a picture of much of Spain. This is, perhaps, as 
dark a picture as could be honestly drawn, but there are 
hundreds of towns, of which the mayor or chief officer does 
not know how to read or write. 

Ten years ago, when the last census was made, in a 
population of 15,613,536, there were actually 12,543,169 
who could not read and write, leaving only 3,070,367 people 
in Spain possessed of these accomplishments. In i860 
there were 1,101,529 children in the public schools of Spain, 
and they must learn something. 

It is encouraging to learn that the government is paying 
increased attention to the subject of education. There are 
25,000 primary schools in the kingdom, which ought to be 
exerting a powerful effect upon the people. Spain has ten 
universities, and the number of students in them is far 
greater than one would expect under the low state of pop- 
ular education. They are thus distributed : — 



Madrid 4,194 

Barcelona 1,365 

Seville 887 

Valladolid 828 

Granada 617 



Valencia 624 

Santiago 403 

Saragossa 389 

Salamanca 242 

Oviedo 155 



The course of study pursued in these institutions is sub- 



78 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

stantially the, same as that in other countries : 2,040 of the 
students are in the Philosophical and Literary course, 1,617 
in the Exact Sciences, Physics, and so forth ; while Law, 
Theology, and Medicine include the rest. Some of these 
universities once had a reputation as wide as the civilized 
part of the world, and students from all nations flocked to 
them as to the purest and sweetest fountains of knowledge 
in the earth. At Salamanca, where now there are less than 
250 students, there were 10,000 in the fourteenth century, 
and its reputation has been higher than Oxford's. It was 
at this university that the Copernican system of astronomy 
was held and taught, when the Romish Church denounced 
it as heretical and contrary to the Holy Scriptures. Yet 
even here Columbus could make no impression in favor of 
his theory of another continent, but all his arguments were 
treated with the greatest contempt by the learned men of 
the university of Salamanca. The professors of the modern 
school, which still retains the name and distinctions of the 
days of its glory, get $600. a year for their services, and 
that is probably an index of the estimation in which learn- 
ing is held in these decayed and benighted regions. 

The present population of Spain, making due allowance 
for increase since the last estimate, is about 16,400,000. 
It is therefore the eighth of the European powers in num- 
bers, Italy and Turkey being both ahead of it. The 
increase of population in Spain is only at the rate of less 
than the half of one per hundred annually. At this rate 
the number would double only once in 181 years, placing 
Spain behind every country in Europe, in this respect, 
except poor Austria. She doubles once in 198 years ; then 
Spain; then France, once in 122 years; Holland, once in 
80 years ; Scotland, once in 46 years ; Prussia, once in 41 
years ; England and Wales, once in 29 years. 

One of the most curious questions in morals, politics, 
and physiology, is started by these facts. They furnish 



ANDALUSIA. . 79 

food for thought. One class of speculators will find moral 
causes to explain the circumstances, and they may easily 
gather a pile of facts to sustain their positions. Climate, 
too, has its influence. The civil government, with the 
physical condition of the people, is to be considered. But 
when the physical, the moral, the civil, and the social state 
of Austria, Spain, France, Holland, Prussia, Italy, and 
England is duly examined, it still remains to be ascertained 
why it is that the number of inhabitants increased more 
rapidly among the colored people of the Southern States 
of North America while they were slaves, and now increases 
more rapidly among the Irish portion of the American 
population, than it does among these highly favored coun- 
tries of Europe. The statistics of births in New England 
and other parts of the United States unhappily show that, 
with the increase of the cost of living, and of luxury and 
effeminacy, the number of children born is less and less 
from year to year. There is no truth in social economy 
better established by the comparison of an adequate number 
of facts than this, that the diminution in the number of 
births is attended by, if not consequent upon, the deterio- 
ration of the health and the morals of any people. Oppres- 
sion which makes a wise man mad may depress the spirits, 
exhaust the energies, and retard the increase of a population, 
not supernaturally sustained as were the Hebrews in Egypt, 
who, the more they were afflicted, the more they multiplied 
and grew. But favored as the middle and southern coun- 
tries of Europe are by climate and soil, affording the people 
an easy and comfortable subsistence, they might and would 
increase in numbers as rapidly at least as the northern, if 
they were so disposed. 

We are now coming down into the region of the aloe, the 
olive, the orange, and the vine. Since we have crossed the 
Sierra Morena, the climate has softened. At this season 
of the year (February), the vegetation is not far advanced. 



80 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

but the leaves of the olive are always green, and the orange 
and the lemon bear leaves and fruit and flowers at the same 
time. The orange should, in some climates, like this and 
the south of France, remain on the tree, after it appears to 
be ripe, for two years, before it is sweet. Much of that 
delicious fruit which we have in our country is too sour to 
be good, because gathered and sent to market before it is 
fully ripe. Here, and all over the southern parts of Spain, 
it is a glorious fruit. It is very large, very yellow, and very 
sweet ; and being abundant, is very cheap. A cent of our 
money will buy the largest, and the natives get them much 
cheaper than that. Sweet lemons are also common. But 
they are not agreeable. They seem to me a miserable 
attempt to be an orange. And the good sour lemons grow 
to an enormous size. I got one in Cordova to measure, 
and my hat would hold one lemon only ! The skin was at 
least an inch thick ; the juice not so acid as of the lemon 
generally, and there was no more of it than in one of ordi- 
nary size. These large lemons are used in preserves, the 
skin being the only available part of the fruit. 

We are now on the plains, in sight of the graceful hills 
of Andalusia. In the soft sunlight of this warm winter's 
day the hills appear to be sleeping and enjoying theii 
repose. All nature, even now, invites to rest. We begin 
to feel the languor of the clime. There are no trees but 
the olive. No birds are singing, or we should know that 
summer is nigh. We stop frequently at little stations, to 
leave and take the mail. The letters and papers are tied 
up in a packet with a string, and are handed from the mail- 
car to a boy or a woman on hand to receive them. The 
letters /r^7^ the place are delivered to the mail-agent in the 
same way. No bag, no box, no lock or key, not even a 
wrapper around the letters protects them. It is the way 
they do things in this country. 

Over these wide plains there are few or no habitations to 



ANDALUSIA. 8 1 

be seen. The peasants must travel many miles to their 
daily work, for they live in villages far away from the lands 
they till. Few cattle are to be seen ; now and then a flock 
of sheep. More black sheep than white ones were in sight, 
and many of the blacks were singularly marked, having but 
one white spot on them, and that at the tip of their tails. 



CORDOVA. 83 



CHAPTER VIII. 

CORDOVA. 

A NEW, but old world, a sudden vision of the Orient, 
■^^ rose on the sight, when we reached the city of Cor- 
dova. Never did I enter a city that filled me with a deeper 
sense of the transient, temporal, and fleeting nature of all 
things material. It is not in ruins. It shows no tokens of 
decay to the coming traveller. A cleaner city is not in the 
world. It w^as the first city in Europe whose streets were 
paved, and the traditional habits of the people are so well 
preserved, that although it was a thousand years ago (in 
850, under Abdurhaman) that this work was done, it has 
been done again and again, and the stones in the streets 
are kept as clean as the floor of a house. The Guadal- 
quiver flows gently by the side of it, and under the shade- 
trees planted on its banks the idle and the fashionable 
have their favorite lounge and promenade. The bridge 
over this widely famed river was first built by Octavius 
Caesar and rebuilt by the Moors. Standing on sixteen 
arches, it is a striking monument of two departed dynasties 
and forms of civilization. The city itself was great before 
Christ came into the world, and Julius Csesar writes of it as 
it was in his day, when his armies swept over Spain. In 
the civil wars of Rome, Cordova declared for Pompey, and 
then Csesar put 28,000 of its inhabitants to the sword. 

After the Moors came over from Africa, and, in the 
battle of Guadalete, struck down the power of the Goths, 
this city was governed by the Caliph of Damascus, until it 



84 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

became independent and the capital of Moorish Spain. 
Then began its career of glory. In the tenth century it 
had 300,000 inhabitants (now 40,000), and for these de- 
vout and cleanly and hospitable and learned Mussulmans 
there were six hundred mosques, and nine hundred baths, 
and six hundred inns, and eight hundred schools, and a 
library of 600,000 volumes. 

Outside of the city the people had gone in crowds to a 
Yutal fete. Men, women, and children, old and young, rich 
and poor, on foot, on horse, on mules or donkeys, and in 
carriages, — any way to go, —all had gone to have a jolly 
time in the country, as the custom is in Spain. It was a 
gay sight, but rising among the grounds were scattered 
here and there the remnants of ancient buildings, broken 
columns, fragments of capitals, and blocks of stone, that lay 
there silently speaking of departed glory. For here once 
stood the fairy palace of the Moorish Abdurhama, which 
that prince built for his favorite sultana, whose name it 
bore, and whose statue stood above the principal gate. 
The whole palace was of marbles and precious stones, 
adorned with the florid architecture which the genius of the 
East would invent. More than four thousand marble 
columns did this luxurious monarch bring from France 
and Italy and Africa to adorn his halls. And when he had 
spent more than fifty millions of pounds sterling upon it, 
he brought into his harem four thousand and three hundred 
women ! Guarded by twelve thousand valiant men, he 
gave himself up to the pleasures of '' the life that now is." 
The city of Cordova was the city for such a king ! 

It is Moorish, Oriental, languid, voluptuous, in its decay. 
Walking along its quiet, almost noiseless streets, we looked 
in upon the courts that form the central /?atw around the 
four sides of which the house is built. In the midst, a 
fountain springs, and the water falls back into a marble 
basin. Around it shrubs with blooming flowers fill the air 



CORDOVA. 85 

with fragrance and beauty. In some of them evergreen 
trees, of unknown age, are growing, and these have been 
trained so curiously, as to produce surprising effects. 
Planted at the four corners of a square, their tops are 
brought over to meet each other, the branches are joined, 
the redundant leaves and twigs being pruned away, they 
grow together, the whole four, like one tree of arch over 
arch, a perpetually verdant bower. The windows of the 
dwelling look down into this court ; and in them, or on its 
marble pavements in the heat of the day, the women sit 
with their needle-work, enjoying the fragrant shade and the 
music of the falling water. The gardens abound in oranges, 
lemons, and limes, hanging over the walls in clusters of 
extraordinary size. 

The interior of these ancient houses is no less interesting. 
One, to which we were invited, was said to be the best 
example of the Moorish domestic architecture extant in 
Cordova. A few jasper columns were standing under the 
archway by which we passed from the court. The modern 
whitewash had covered the most of the arabesque embel- 
lishments upon the walls. We ascended a flight of broad, 
brick steps, with a solid beam of wood at the outer edge of 
each step, and at the head of the stairs the venerable master 
of the house met us kindly and made us welcome. We 
heard a piano as we were coming up the steps, but it sud- 
denly ceased, and a young lady flitted out of view. The 
house is said to be more than a thousand years old. It may 
be so, but the Moorish style is so imprinted on the tastes 
of the people that they build age after age with substantially 
the same models, and it is not safe to aflirm that the hands 
of the Moors laid any of these stones. The ceihngs are 
very low, the rooms small, the furniture, as in all lands, is 
according to the taste or means of the owner, but Eastern 
in its style, and adapted to the quiet, languid type of the 
modern as well as the ancient inhabitants of this and all 
such climes. 



86 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

The wonder o£ Cordova is also one of the wonders of the 
world. Its cathedral has been a mosque of the Moors. To 
see it once is an adequate reward for all one has endured in 
travelling thus far through the most comfortless country in 
Europe. To see it often, and study it in the minute details 
of its extraordinary plan and finish, is to lay up a store of 
imagery for dreams of memory through the rest of a life- 
time. At least so it seems to me now, since entering its 
magnificent Gate of Pardon, and suddenly standing in the 
midst of a thousand variously colored columns, — marble, 
jasper, porphyry, granite, — all surmounted by Corinthian 
capitals, a forest in a temple, a petrified grove of trunks of 
majestic trees, enclosed in walls. Perhaps the memory of 
it will fade, so that a year or two hence the impressions 
of wonder, of sublimity, of vastness, will not be so strong 
as they are now. But at the moment when the interior 
first broke upon my sight, it was as strange to me that the 
art of men cou/d construct such an edifice, as that the great 
Architect should build the walls over which the Niagara 
rushes for ever. 

Stepping out of the street through a gate in a solid wall, 
we are in the midst of a court-yard some 400 feet long : an 
orange grove, venerable trees that have been bearing fruit, 
as now, a century or more ; and three fountains send up 
jets of waters that fall back into large marble basins filled 
with goldfish which groups of children are feeding. Near 
the gate, on benches, elderly men are sitting, smoking, and 
enjoying the sunshine. The elders sat in the gate in the 
Scripture times, and do now in Eastern towns, and here 
also, where Oriental manners still obtain. In former years 
this court became a great resort for the people who made a 
mart, or exchange, as in all ages men have been tempted 
to make the house of prayer a market-place, and so it often 
becomes a den of thieves. Now, this Court of Oranges, as 
it is called, is the resort of old men and children, who enjoy 



CORDOVA. 



87 



the warmth and shade and waters of the holy precincts. 
Passing through this court we come to the sacred edifice 
itself. Its history is as eventful as that of Spain. It was 
built by the Moors as a mosque, and when the Christians 




Court of Oranges, Cordova. 



conquered Cordova, they converted the mosque into a 
church, though they could not convert the Moors into 
Christians. And this nOw-called cathedral is the one that 
Abdurhaman began to build A. d. J%6^ and his son com- 
pleted in 796, pushing on the work with such tremendous 
energy that in ten years he constructed one of the most 
remarkable edifices in the world. His father's idea was to 
surpass every temple on earth in extent and strength and 
splendor. It was to be the Mecca in Europe ; and when 
the Western world was subdued to Islam, as he and all the 
believers beheved it would be, the holy place to which pil- 
grimages from all these lands would be made was Cordova. 



SB ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

It is, therefore, the finest example that Spain possesses of 
that pecuhar style of architecture and ornamentation which 
the Moors introduced, and which have been gradually dis- 
appearing with the lapse of centuries. It doubtless has a 
symbolism behind its material forms, and the student of art 
and religious thought will read in the plan and a thousand 
details, a meaning that does not meet the unanointed eye of 
the simple traveller. 

The Gate of Pardon is so called because, under the 
Roman Catholic dispensation, indulgences were granted to 
those who entered by it into the temple. There is one 
gate of the same name in each of the cathedrals that I have 
visited in this country. The bronze ornaments upon the 
doors are very curious, the royal arms are displayed, and 
while the Christian inscription, in Gothic letters, of the 
word Deus, proclaims the true God, the Arabic letters also 
testify that the Mahometans worshipped him, for they write, 
'' The empire belongs to God." 

Within the temple there is at first a sense of gloom, 
almost of oppression, arising from the vastness of the area 
and the want of height. The roof cannot be more than 40 
or 50 feet high, while the floor stretches away 640 feet in 
length and 460 feet in breadth. A thousand columns in 
long lines, like trees planted in the garden of the Lord, are 
each of one single stone, — the spoils of temples in the East 
and the West, and some of them imperial gifts, and hence 
a variety of colors and size, showing all sorts of marbles, 
the green and red jasper, black, white and rose, emerald 
and porphyry. Crossing each other, at right angles, these 
rows of pillars form nineteen naves one way and twenty- 
nine the other ; long-drawn aisles, over which the horse- 
shoe-shaped arches, standing one upon the other and sup- 
porting the roof, produce a marvellous effect. 

The Holy of Holies in the mosque was the Mihrab, and 
it has been preserved in the converted temple, with religious 



90 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

care, as at once a curiosity and a memorial that the Mahom- 
etan has ceased to defile these courts. It is a recess in 
the wall of the temple, in which the Koran was kept, and 
where the Kalif came to say his prayers, looking out of a 
little window toward Mecca, It is a small six-sided room, 
about twelve feet across, the floor one piece of marble, and 
the roof, in the shape of a shell, is also, we were assured, of 
a single block, and up the six sides rise marble pilasters, the 
whole adorned with strange Arabic art and mysterious 
inscriptions. When Hakem was Caliph of Cordova, he 
sent messengers into the East to ask for skilful artificers 
in painting glass and giving this strange effect to tracery in 
metals and stone ; for there is in mosaic work, when well 
done, something superior to the softest painting, and quite 
incomprehensible. The workers in mosaic came, and their 
skill now shines in this miracle of Oriental art, which has 
been here since 965, and is as fresh and beautiful as when 
it shone at the feast of the Rhamadhan, in the light of a 
thousand lamps. In the marble floor is worn a deep groove, 
by the knees of devout Mussulmans, who have thus gone 
around it while at their devotions. 

On the sides of the cathedral are many chapels, each with 
its altar, its pictures, its relics, and its history. By one of 
them, once a Moorish sanctuary paved with silver, is a rude 
painting of a crucifixion, and an inscription in Spanish 
which tells us that — 

" While the Mahometans celebrated their orgies in this temple, a 
Christian captive uttered the name of Christ, whom he held in his 
heart, and he engraved this image with his nails on the hard stone of 
this pillar, for which his death has purchased this aureole." 

On the stone column is etched a crucifixion which tradi- 
tion says the' prisoner scratched in with his finger nails. 
The stone is very hard, and the story harder. 

Come again and again, and this strange pile, with its 



CORDOVA. 91 

thousand columns and its thousand years of history, grows 
on you with every visit. We come from a land where all is 
fresh and new, and these old temples fill us with awe. But 
if we are impressed with a ruin as in Rome, where Paganism 
built its temples to become the sites of Christian churches, 
which themselves have been buried and again dug up to be 
the wonder of the present age, how much more impressive 
is a building still fresh and unbroken by the march of cen- 
turies, where the pomp and ceremony of a religion, corrupt 
indeed, yet recognizing God the Father as the only true 
God, are perpetuated year after year till their number be- 
comes a thousand years. 



92 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 



CHAPTER IXo 

SEVILLE, ITS CATHEDRAL AND BULL-FIGHTS. 

"IVJOT until reaching Seville does one feel what a luxury it 
^^ is to live, — just to breathe, — to inhale the delicious 
air and rejoice in being. Other climates had been cold, or 
damp, or chilly ; some hot, debilitating; but this was just 
right, and when a man comes to the place where the 
weather just suits him, it is time to sit down and enjoy it. 
It was a privilege to be any thing that could breathe in this 
delightful clime. It is the latter part of February. If one 
of my lungs was out of order, or both of them, I would stay 
here till they were well, or until the weather became too 
hot for comfort, and that will be but a few weeks hence. 

The city is clean, well-built, and in the evening the in- 
habitants throng some of the streets so as to make it diffi- 
cult to walk. The courts around which the houses are 
built are beautifully adorned with flowers and shrubs, and 
trees ; in warmer weather awnings are spread over them, 
and here the family enjoy themselves with the piano and 
guitar, the song and the dance. Here, too, the table is 
spread, and all Seville, it is said, takes tea out of doors. 

It was a dreadful day for Seville, and indeed for Spain, 
when the Moors were driven out of the country ; they had 
conquered it, and ruled eight hundred years. Four hun- 
dred thousand Moors, Jews and Arabs, left this city of 
Seville in a few days after it was surrendered to St. Fer- 
dinand. Wealth, learning, taste, art, and the charm of 
Eastern life went out with them, and Spain has been lo.wer 




"LA GERALD A," SEVILLE. 



94 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

in the scale of morals and manners ever since. This is no 
compliment to Mahometanism. To compare the present 
condition of Spain with any thing that has gone before it, 
and say that the former days were better than these, is say- 
ing very little for the better times. In this old city of 
Seville we found the Alcazar or palace, being the first spe- 
cimen of Moorish magnificence we had seen. It consists 
of a group of palaces, on the banks of the Guadalquiver, 
and exhibits the same style of architecture and mural deco- 
rations that are so much admired and celebrated in the 
Alhambra. Indeed, the pavements and columns and arches 
and apartments have been preserved or restored with so 
much greater care than the Alhambra itself, that the latter 
appears to be a feeble example of Moorish taste and skill, 
compared with these glorious rooms in Seville. Fancy 
must people these chambers with men and women, of flesh 
and blood ; clothe them in Oriental and gorgeous raiment, 
surround them with every luxury that gold and labor and 
power can give ; hang these passages with curtains whose 
richness has not been excelled by any thing that modern art 
has produced. When the sleepy janitor opens the outer 
gate and leads you through these deserted and empty halls, 
in which your footfalls make the only sound, into apart- 
ments that for centuries have been silent as the grave, yet 
on every hand is beauty of . coloring and carving and curi- 
ously wrought adorning that you must pause to admire; 
even in the midst of admiration one cannot but mourn that 
the barbaric splendor of Moorish glory has departed, and 
the degenerate race of effete Spanish civilization has taken 
its place. A thousand wives of a proud Moor once made 
these walls jocund with their mirth, and the adjoining gar- 
dens and the beautiful Guadalquiver were gay with their 
revels and song, and the moral tone of the palace was as 
high, and the happiness of the people just as great as 
when a dissolute queen and a profligate court, and an igno- 



SEVILLE. 95 

rant, depraved, and impoverished people, constituted the 
government and inhabitants of a nominally Christian 
kingdom. 

Instead of a mosque, is the cathedral of Seville. It is 
the noblest example of the Gothic ecclesiastical architecture 
in the world. St. Peter's at Rome produces no such effect 
on the soul when first you enter it. The Cologne cathe- 
dral is nearer it in power. I have no superstitious feeling 
that compels me to be awed by a place. But I cannot 
enter this temple without worshipping ! Instantly, as you 
stand within its walls, its giant solemn columns rising 
around, scarcely visible in the twilight at the noon of a 
brilliant southern day, its vastness, its amazing height, the 
roof like a firmament, and resting on arches, dividing it into 
sixty-eight compartments, one feels that this surely ought 
to be none other than the house of God. High mass was 
celebrated during one of my many visits to the cathedral. 
When the tinkling of the bell gave the signal for the 
" elevation of the host," the faithful, wherever they chanced 
to be in the vast area, fell on their knees and silently 
adored the idol which superstition had just held aloft for 
the worship of an ignorant multitude. A woman entered 
one of the chapels and knelt before an image of the Virgin 
and poured out her soul in prayer. As if unconscious that 
spectators were all around her, she wept and told her 
beads. 

The women of Seville are celebrated for their beauty. In 
the Central Park of New York, Hyde Park of London, or 
the Bois de Boulogne of Paris, you notice that many of the 
most splendid equipages carry very plain women, and one 
often admires the compensation system that gives the signs 
of wealth to some and saves the good looks for others. But 
you may stand by the fashionable drive of Seville and the 
first hundred carriages that pass shall have four handsome 



ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 



women in each of them. As " you would scarce expect one 
of my age "to be a connoisseur in this matter, I will give 
in the words of my guide the types of Spanish beauty : 




She wept and told her Beads. 



" Deep blue-black eyes, ado^^milados sometimes, and at 
others full of flashes, each a picnalada ; a small forehead ; 
raven hair, long and silky, which they might almost turn 
at night into a balmy soft pillow, and a long flowing man- 



SEVILLE. 97 

tilla by day ; a peculiar meneo, sal^ and indescribable charm, 
naturalness, and grace in every movement, together with 
liveliness and repartee, — form the principal features of their 
appearance and character." 

The dance and the song, the bull-fight more than any 
thing else in the season of it, make this city the home of 
the gayest, wildest, most dissolute men and women in the 
south of Europe. Corinth, in the days of Venus-worship, 
was not more wholly given up to the lust of the flesh and 
the pride of life than Seville to-day. Yet it was once the 
emporium of the New World. From its port set sail the 
fleet that carried Columbus to a land beyond the sea and 
brought back the wealth of the Western Ind. It has been 
the residence of kings ; and successive dynasties, faiths, and 
customs have in turn made Seville their capital and terres- 
trial paradise. It is girt on every side by fertile plains, the 
orange and lemon trees hang loaded all the year with their 
golden fruit, and the silver river, whose name is poetry and 
whose banks are haunted with the memories of Eastern 
delights, washes the feet of this beautiful city. 

If there was ever an original to Byron's Don Juan, and 
there was perhaps an original to him as to Cooper's Spy or 
Irving's Schoolmaster, then the tradition may be true that 
points to a low white-washed house, close to San Leandro, 
and belonging to the nuns of that convent, where that 
graceless scamp once lived. And the " Barber of Seville," 
of course, had his shop somewhere in town, and it has been 
conveniently located in the same neighborhood, so that 
when you visit the St. Thomas Square you can see them 
both. They are nothing to see, unless you are at that age 
when the poetry of Byron has charms they lose as you get 
older and wiser. 

The house of Murillo, the painter of Spain, and not far 
from being the painter of the world, is an object of.attrac- 

7 



98 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

tion, and Seville has it, and also some of the greatest pic- 
tures of this master. The Queen of Spain would send the 
Pope a present worthy of a sovereign to give to another, 
and she sent two of Murillo's paintings. The Pope had 
them copied in mosaic, and sent the copies to the Queen of 
Spain. It is surpassingly wonderful that stone can be set 
so skilfully as to make a picture with all the softness of 
shade and color that belongs to the finest work in oil. We 
will look up some Murillos on our way, but just now we are 
near the site of the Old Moorish Castle, which is not more 
distinguished for the tales of Oriental life and love and war 
than it is for being the place in which the Inquisition was 
first established. What tales of horror its stones might tell 
if they were permitted to cry out ! Nowhere on this planet 
has the notion of converting men to believe a lie, by roasting 
them if they will not believe, been carried to a higher finish 
than in Spain. In each of its chief cities a spot is still 
cherished with affectionate regard by the faithful, where in 
the good old times of their fathers the auto-da-f^ was cele- 
brated with pompous processions, when priests and soldiers 
and hosts of men and women marched to the public square 
with a company of those who had been condemned to the 
stake ! The Quemadaro^ or burning place of Seville, is 
outside of the city, and the plain is called the Field of 
St» Sebastian. Aceldama would be a more appropriate 
name. 

On the banks of the Guadalquiver, near the Moorish 
Alcazar, stands a famous pile called the Tower of Gold, as 
well so called from its ancient color as the uses to which it 
has been put. Its summit gives an outlook far upon the 
plain across the river, and in times of old it has been a 
fortress of huge strength, to resist the enerAy when threat- 
ening the palace itself. It was built by the Moors as a 
treasure-house. When the Spaniards got possession of it, 



b 



SEVILLE. 99 

Don Pedro made it a prison for his friends, men and women, 
who fell under his disfavor. And then came a time when it 
was wanted for the purpose of holding heaps of gold, for 
when Columbus had gone from Seville to a new world, and 
the stream of gold began to flow back to Spain, this Seville, 
which had sent out the great discoverer, received the return- 
ing treasures, and this tower became the reservoir to contain 
it. Eight millions of ducats and more have been stored 
here at one \!m\^^ private and public funds, and the mon- 
archs of Spain often put their arms deep into the bins of 
gold, and helped themselves. 

The decline and fall of Spain would be the fitting theme 
for another Gibbon, and the lesson it teaches might be 
studied with advantage in the new world, whose discovery 
had so much to do with enriching, and then destroying the 
kingdom. It is very hard to speculate or philosophize on 
the causes that led to the prostration of a great power like 
this, when the element of religion is excluded from the 
study. Without the demoralizing influences of a political 
religion, there were causes enough to work the ruin of 
Spain, and foremost among these was the influx of wealth, 
that made every man greedy of a chance to get rich, at the 
expense of the State. It is useful to recur to it now, and in our 
own country, because the same causes are working mightily 
in the same direction, and producing the same deplorable 
effects. It was always so, but increased opportunities in- 
crease temptation and multiply the consequences. Men 
now seek and obtain oflice not for honor and the power of 
usefulness, but to get rich. Government in the hands of 
such men is an instrument of robbery, an engine of corrup- 
tion, and it has in itself disease and death. The influx of 
gold from California has corrupted the American people in 
the same way, if not to the same degree that the Mexican 
gold and silver demoralized Spain. 



100 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 



Antanazio proposed to drive out of town, along the banks 
of the river, to the ruins of an ancient city. A charming 
ride of an hour, in a deUcious winter day, without the winter, 
brings us to the ruins of an amphitheatre built by Scipio 
Africanus, A. u. c. 546. Here, away in this end of the 
then known world, three men were born, each one of whom 
became a Roman emperor ! The glory of nations was once 
over all the palaces, temples, and theatres that distinguish 
this spot. But now the ruins themselves are ruined. We 
can mark, or rather we can believe when we are pointed to, 
the places where the nobles sat to see the games of blood in 
the arena of the amphitheatre, the dungeons of the wild 
beasts are laid open, and the chambers where gladiators 
stripped for the fight, that gladdened the hearts of men and 
women two thousand years ago. Yet they were quite as 
rational and refined, quite as Christianable and decent, as 
the bull-fights of to-day. 

" Have you been to see a bull-fight ? " was one of the first 
questions put to me by a delicate little lady-friend whom I 
met. 

" No ; have you ? " I answered and asked in the same 
breath. 

Her husband was sitting by ; a splendid soldier-like look- 
ing man, six feet high, and well proportio,ned, who could 
take the bull by the horns when he pleased, -and would do 
it were there any occasion. He did not wait for his pretty 
wife to answer my inquiry, but laughingly replied ; 

" Yes, she has, and I went with her, but could not stand 
it ; the sight made me sick, and I had to leave in disgust ; 
but she staid it out, and saw — how many killed was it, 
dear?" 

" Six bulls and five horses," she said with a smile of 
supreme delight. 

'' Killed I " I cried. 



102 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

"Yes, killed," they both answered, and he went on to 
say, " butchered ; — horrid ! " 

" Tell me all about it, please ; I would like to hear^ at 
least." 

" Well," said the amiable husband, " if you are going to 
talk biill^ I will go into the reading-room and have a smoke." 
He went out, and she went on : — 

"These men^^ she said; "but I ought to ^2,y^you men, 
are so squeamish ; you faint at the sight of a little blood ; 
what would you do in a fight, a real battle with bullets and 
brains flying all about you and men bleeding to death by 
hundreds, if you can't bear to see a bull cut down or a horse 
ripped up. Why, I saw a horse run all about the bull-ring 
with his entrails trailing on the ground, and a bull with his 
hamstrings cut, and making splendid fight on his knees. 
You must go and see it; now there's my husband, poor 
fellow, he ought not to go to such places, it doesn't agree 
with him ! " 

" Well, I would rather have you describe a fight," said I, 
" than to go and see it. I have no particular taste for 
blood, but any thing would be agreeable that you would 
undertake to describe." 

" Thank you. You have seen the ring ; every city in Spain 
has its bull-ring : a circular theatre, open to the sky, with 
seats rising from the arena in the centre. The seats on 
the east and southerly quarters are covered to protect the 
grandees, while the multitude sitting in the sun hold fans 
before their faces or take it as it comes. This ring will 
seat some fifteen to twenty thousand people, and a gayer, 
grander sight it is rare to see, than these bright-colored, 
dressy people; the women are the most beautiful in the 
world ; they are far handsomer than American women, you 
know they are, don't you ? " 

" Perhaps so, present company excepted, and one or two 



BULL-FIGHTS. IO3 

Others : but pray go on, — I am more anxious to hear of 
bulls than women." 

" A blast of trumpets sounds the hour for the spectacle 
to begin, and the eager shout of the multitude shows their 
impatience to see the fun. A great show precedes, the 
magistrates riding in with a troop to give something like 
dignity to the occasion, and when they have swept around 
the circle and retired, the spectators sit in breathless silence. 
Two mounted men, called picadors^ ride in, each with a 
long spear at rest, and take their position, some fifty feet 
in front of the gateway through which the beasts are to 
enter. All things being ready, and the breathless throng 
thirsting for the fray, the huge door unfolds, and a fierce 
bull dashes into the arena. The multitude greet him with 
a shout of ecstasy. He makes straight upon the picadors, 
if he is a bull of spirit. There's a great difference in the 
animals ; some of them go scouring all around the ring, head 
down and tail up, pursued by the picador ; but a real bull 
of Navarre — they are the fiercest and pluckiest — pitches 
right ahead for the first enemy he sees. The horseman 
levels his lance to meet the tremendous monster as he 
comes; sometimes catches him on the shoulder, and the 
blood spouts from the wound. But he does not stop for 
trifles. It takes more than a scratch to stop a good bull ; 
he rushes on and sometimes buries the iron deeper in his 
flesh, or tosses it off, and catching the horse on his horns, 
hoists him and his rider into the air, and as they come down 
in a heap, he drives on to meet other antagonists lying in 
wait, and ready to do him mischief., The very last time I 
was there, it was this sight that made my husband sick ; 
the horse scrambled up, and actually went trotting around 
the ring, when there was more of him outside than in, he 
was so terribly ripped open by that one lunge of those 
splendid horns, I was in hopes that the bull would beat 



104 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

the whole of them ; now he met the men on foot, with red 
cloaks on their arms, which they shake to attract the excited 
gentleman's attention. He sees them and bears down gal- 
lantly upon them like a Monitor or a Miantonomoh, and 
the wily cJmlos^ or cloakers, leap dexterously to one side, 
and sometimes they jump over the barriers among the 
spectators, where they have been followed by the raging 
bull himself. This is not often, however. He has still 
another set of fighters to drive out of the ring. These are 
the bander iller OS ^ who throw fiery darts into the bull's 
neck ; these darts are provided with a powder squib which 
explodes when it strikes in the flesh, and puts his majesty 
into a horrid rage: by this time, the bull, hunted by all 
these foes, charging upon one and speared by another, is 
becoming exhausted, or the spectators are wearied with the 
sameness of the fight, and want a new victim. The mata- 
dor^ or chief butcher, then enters the field in a full court 
dress, with a scarlet robe in one hand and a sharp stiletto 
in the other. He brandishes the red skirt to draw the bull 
on, and as he comes he aims a stab at his neck, and, if he 
is a master at his work, takes him in the right spot, and 
the huge fellow falls dead at his victor's feet. Once I saw 
the matador miss his aim, the bull wheeled suddenly, one 
horn took him in the side, and he went over the head of 
the bull and came down a mangled corpse. Then a shout 
went up as if to shake the skies. I felt badly myself, but 
these Spanish people seemed to relish it amazingly, and I 
suppose they get used to it. But the bull generally gets 
the worst of it. When he has had the finishing stroke, a 
team of mules is driven in, the dead beast is hitched on by 
a hook and chain and drawn out rapidly, and the ring is clear 
for another fight. All this has not taken half an hour, and 
a similar scene is repeated until four, five, or six bulls, and 
often as many horses, are killed. 



BULL-FIGHTS. 10$ 

" When a good hit is made the spectators rise en masse 
and shout their applause. This is the triumph of the glad- 
iators in the sand. A little riband on the bull's mane is a 
prize which the combatant seeks to capture, and this he 
presents to his lady-love as the evidence of his bravery and 
skill. The ladies are evidently quite as enthusiastic in 
their love of the national sport as the men, and they show 
it by clapping their little hands or fans and crying bravo, 
as eagerly as any." 

" And do yoiL really find pleasure in this bloody spec- 
tacle ? " I inquired somewhat anxiously, for I had been quite 
interested in her graphic description, and could readily see 
that she had spoken with feeling. 

"Well, I must say that I do like the excitement of it. 
I never could see any sport in looking on when two or three 
or four horses were thrashed to make them run faster ; yet 
many women think it the height of enjoyment to see a 
horse-race. The noblest men of England delight to stand 
in a ring around two men who beat each others' faces into 
a jelly, and they call it the ' manly art' ! The ladies of 
New York go to theatres and operas with their necks and 
more exposed to the gaze of men, and the ladies look at 
the licentious dancing of ballet girls who have been tortured 
into the art of showing themselves disgustingly to every 
virtuous taste. And I have come to the conclusion that in 
all parts of the world people have their own ideas about 
amusement, and there is no great difference in the moral 
of it. For my part I like a good fair stand-up bull-fight 
more than any of them." 

My fair enthusiast rested ; I thanked her for the informa- 
tion she had given, and added : 

" I agree with you entirely, my dear madam, as to the 
moral of the sports you speak of ; only I think the New 
York amusements are the most corrupt and corrupting. 



io6 



ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 



And when I write on ' Bull-Fights in Seville,' I shall do 
my best to put it in your words." 

" If you do," said she, " send me a copy of your book ; 
I want my husband to read it. He can't bear bull- 
fights." 




SEVILLE. 107 



CHAPTER X. 

SEVILLE. 

T^ON MIGUEL DE MANARA, a Spanish rake, one 
^^ of many like the Don Juan who stands as type of his 
race, having spent his Ufe in the way rakes love to live, 
undertook to be religious in his later years. He had sowed 
his wild oats, and never got much of a crop, and now that 
death was likely to call for him soon, he thought to get 
ready for his coming by making over to some pious uses 
what he had not spent upon his lusts. According to the 
theory of that church which takes care of all Spanish souls, 
he made a sure thing of it by founding a hospital, to which 
was given the name of " La Caridad." A brotherhood, 
whose special vocation was to minister to persons sentenced 
to death, and to bury their bodies, took charge of it. It is 
famous far beyond Seville and Spain. Its patients are 
tended by young men of good families in the city, who min- 
ister by turns to the sick and dying brought to this Charity. 
Perhaps some of the young gentlemen nurses, like the 
founder, have an eye to a compromise of their own infirm- 
ities, by giving attention to these miserably sick poor. 

But the fame of the hospital is so great because it has 
within its walls some of the noblest paintings in the world ! 

The building stands in an obscure part of the town, and 
we had a long search to find it, Antanazio, our guide, being 
quite unused to take his travellers to hospitals and out-of- 
the-way churches, as theatres and bull-fights and fandangoes 
among the gypsies are much more attractive. But we found 



I08 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

it ; an old woman janitor let us in, and led us to the chapel 
where the art-treasures are to be seen. 

This church is the guardian of the masterpieces of Mu- 
RiLLO. His manner is as distinctly marked as Raphael's 
or Titian's, and the power of none of the Italian masters, 
unless we except Leonardo da Vinci, is greater than his. 
It was difficult to believe this in Italy, where Murillos are 
comparatively rare, but here, where alone his greatest and 
best works are to be found, it is easy to believe that he is 
among the first. Several of his pictures in this church are 
of St. John, and in one of them an angel assists the saint 
in carrying a sick man, and in another the same saint washes 
the feet of a pauper. The Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes 
is a wonderfully faithful presentation of that sublime scene. 
But the great picture, the one we specially came to see, is 
" Moses striking the Rock in the Desert." Its eloquence 
tells and pleads its own story : a famished multitude press- 
ing 'to the gushing stream and gathering the precious waters 
in their hands ; mothers drinking, while their children, with 
parched lips, are pleading for the life-saving draught ; even 
the beasts declare their joy at the sight of water, and grat- 
itude lights up the faces of the thronging Israelites. But 
the central, majestic figure in the group, on which the 
painter's high art is lavished with a wealth of skill, is Moses, 
with folded hands and upturned eyes, acknowledging the 
goodness and the power which this miracle, almost as won- 
drous to him as to his people, has so suddenly revealed. 
Near him is his brother Aaron, scarcely less than Moses in 
the scene, for he, priest-like, is still in the act of prayer. 
And in the people every form and feature of human life 
and feeling are portrayed, each after its own kind, with the 
hand of a master. 

There are several pictures here by others, as well as other 
Murillos, that I have not space to mention. Marshal Soult 
carried off five of the great pictures by Murillo, and two 



SEVILLE. 109 

of them, "Abraham entertaining the Angels," and the 
" Prodigal Son," were bought by the Duke of Sutherland. 
Wellington recovered, at Waterloo, some of Soult's spoils 
of the galleries of Spain. The French are great thieves 
when they get among pictures or statuary. They once had 
the Venus de Medicis boxed and ready for Paris. War is 
pretty much the same game all the world over, and always. 
The picture-gallery of Seville was saved from French 
spoliation by the forethought of a Spanish amateur, who 
sent all the paintings to Gibraltar before the French reached 
Seville. We found, to our disappointment, that the museum 
was closed for repairs, and a special order from the gov- 
ernor was necessary. Instead of sending the order, he 
promised to send us a guide to conduct us through the 
gallery the next day. An hour after the time he came, and 
the only service he came to perform was to lead us to the 
door of the museum, which was close to our lodgings, and 
then to receive his fees for this needless service. That was 
very Spanish. The porter then admitted us and received 
his fees. Another led us across the court into the hall 
where the pictures were standing along the walls, unhung, 
and he received his fees. When the convents in Spain were 
suppressed, the best pictures among them were gathered 
into this museum. Murillo painted some of his finest works 
for the Capuchin convent, which stood near the Cordova 
gate. One of the sweetest and most perfect of paintings 
is that of the two saints of Seville, the maidens Justa and 
Rufina, who held up the giralda, or tower of the cathedral, 
when it was likely to be blown down in a tempest. In the 
days of Pagan Spain a procession was passing through the 
streets bearing an image of Venus, to which the people 
made homage. Two young women, lately converted to the 
Christian religion, by name Justa and Rufina, refused to 
worship the idol, and the multitude in their madness made 
martyrs of them on the spot. When the Christians became 



no ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

masters of the city, the maidens became its tutelar saints, 
and are painted as holding the giralda in their hands, in 
honor of their kind interposition in a storm. 

Here is Murillo's first and last page of the gospel, — the 
Annunciation is the first page, with the beauty and joyful 
hope of the motherhood of him who is the desire of all 
nations ; 'the last page is the Mother of Jesus weeping over 
the death of him who was to have redeemed Israel. The 
St. Thomas giving alms, by Murillo, has been praised by 
the best critics as not excelled by any of his works. Wilkie 
placed it among the finest. 

It is a question often asked, and never answered. Why can 
we not have these pictures, or such as these, in the Western 
World? Few of the many who would enjoy and appreciate 
them ever can come to Spain or Italy, and must they live 
and die without the sight of all these glorious works of art ? 
It would be an easy matter to have copies made of the most 
celebrated and magnificent pictures, and transported to New 
York, into a national gallery. Copies may be made so as 
to challenge comparison with the original, and to give a fair 
idea of the distinctive manner of each of the artists. It 
does not require the same genius to make a perfect copy 
that it does to conceive and give birth to the original. And 
there are no living artists, and have been none in the last 
three hundred years, to paint character, soul, thought, feel- 
ing, as those men did whom we call the Old Masters. We 
have as great painters now as they. But not in their line 
of things. England and France and America have had, 
and now have, artists whose works could not have been 
produced by Da Vinci, Giotto, Raphael, Michael Angelo, 
Titian, Carlo Dolce, or Murillo. But there is no one alive 
now to paint the Last Supper, the Judgment, the Trans- 
figuration, the Charles V. on horseback, or the Smitten 
Rock, comparable with those majestic transcripts of senti- 
ment which stand up in the world of art among man's 



SEVILLE. Ill 

works, as Niagara and Mont Blanc are sublime among the 
works of God. 

After writing the account of the bull-fight in a former chap- 
ter, it occurred to me that you might ask whether I went to 
see the sport myself, or relied altogether on the descriptions 
of the ladies and others. That is a fair question, and I am 
therefore obliged to say that I did not ; that I have never 
seen a bull-fight. Three reasons prevented me from going. 
First, they are usually to be seen only on Sunday, and I 
never go to places of amusement on that day, at home or 
abroad. Secondly, I have no taste for sights of blood, and 
would rather go the other way than into the bull-ring at any 
time. And thirdly and lastly, in the way of reasons for not 
going, there was not a bull-fight while I was there ! It 
was and is yet the winter season, when the weather is cool 
compared with spring and summer, and the bulls do not 
fight well except when the weather is hot. The " season," 
which is even more distinctly marked than that of opera in 
Paris or New York, begins the first Sunday after Lent, and 
a performance takes place every Sunday afterwards, if the 
weather permits, till the height of summer suspends it for 
a few weeks when the heat is excessive. It is resumed from 
the latter part of August until the first of October. Then 
the fall and winter are made dull by its absence, and the 
Spaniards long for the return of hot weather and the 
beasts. 

There is a great deal of exaggeration in the descriptions 
given by those who enjoy the sport. The horses selected 
for the sacrifice are miserable jades, that are fit for nothing 
else but to be killed, and the bulls are rarely so fierce as to 
be dangerous, unless goaded or provoked into phrensy by 
the tricks of the combatants. The men who go into the 
fight are all hired butchers or fighters, who are paid regular 
salaries, like actors in a theatre, and they make a business 
of it. And so universal is the rage of the people to see 



112 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

this, the national sport and pastime, that the ring must fur- 
nish seats for ten, fifteen, or twenty thousand people, and 
the price of admission for such a multitude readily supplies 
the means to meet the great expenses of the entertainment. 

One of the most curious facts developed by the bull-fight 
is the fondness that women have for such scenes. It is no 
fiction that ladies, whose refinement cannot be called in 
question, are in raptures when the fight is the most savage 
and bloody. It always was so. In the amphitheatres of 
Italy, when martyr Christians were compelled to fight with 
wild beasts, the fairest and proudest of women were among 
the spectators, who looked on with delight when their fellow- 
creatures were torn limb from limb. I have often heard it 
said, here and elsewhere, that women are more fond of 
these bloody spectacles than men are. We know they are 
more sympathetic with suffering, and in the hospital and 
chamber of sickness and anguish, they minister with a long- 
suffering patience and fortitude from which the sterner stuff 
that men are supposed to be made of revolts at once, or 
soon shrinks worn out, " used up," as we say. 

What is the effect of these scenes of blood and butchery 
on the national character? In the streets the boys play 
bull-fight : one holds up a red handkerchief and shakes it in 
the face of another boy, who makes a lunge at him with his 
head, and then pursues him, and another sets off after hiifiy 
and so the bull-ring is enacted in the highway. As all the 
large towns 'have bull-rings, and the poorest classes of peo- 
ple manage to get money enough to see the show, and the 
country boy can give his girl no greater treat than to take 
her to a bull-fight, the thing is in the widest sense national, 
and its influence reaches down to the lowest ranks, while 
it is the pet of the nobility and gentry. And its effect 
must be degrading, brutifying, and demoralizing. If there 
were any thing in the Spanish character to work upon, for 
good or evil, the influence of such a decided national pas- 



SEVILLE. 113 

time would be more distinctly pronounced. But the sense- 
less pride of the Spaniard, — pride with nothing to be proud 
of; pride with idleness, ignorance, and poverty; pride of 
the meanest and most contemptible sort, — is the warp and 
woof of Spanish character, and there is hardly any thing 
more in them than there would be in a nation of peacocks. 

When you have excepted the vice of intoxication, and a 
great exception it is, you have said all that can be said in 
favor of the moral habits of the Spanish people. They do 
not steal from one another, that I know of, any more than 
other people do. But they certainly commit murders more 
frequently than other nations do, unless the slayer is mad- 
dened by drink. In estimating the comparative morality 
of peoples, this matter of intemperance holds the balance. 
It is the prolific parent of the greater part of the crimes of 
a people where it is the prevailing vice, yet very few mor- 
alists are disposed to reckon it the crime of crimes. In 
Spain the women are said to be almost universally corrupt. 
As a matter of course, the men must be just as bad. I 
have been assured here in Granada, by those who ought to 
know, having long resided here and become thoroughly 
acquainted with the state of things, that there is no social 
morality among men and women in Spain : that from the 
highest to the lowest they have all gone out of the way, 
and that they are known — the women are — as divided 
into four classes, with different degrees of refinement in 
vice, but all four classes lost to virtue and without con- 
science of sin. It is quite probable that such a statement 
is to be taken with many grains of allowance. But making 
all deductions that one's good nature demands, there still 
remains a sediment of truth that one shudders to admit. 
In this plane of inquiry we are met with the truth that 
Austria, Italy, France, and Spain are the Roman Catholic 
countries where the vice of' licentiousness corrupts the 
moral of social life. The Protestant countries of Europe 

8 



114 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

are in colder climes, and intemperance is the vice that 
among the poorer people breeds misery more ruinous to 
their health and prosperity. 

At the railway station, when we were leaving Seville for 
the Alhambra by the way of Malaga, a group of natives in 
the costume of Andalusia presented a picturesque and not 
unpleasing appearance. In the cities of Europe it is rare 
to see any thing national and peculiar- in the dress of the 
people. Fashion is an empire that extends over every 
nation, and reigns in London, Berlin, Vienna, and Madrid 
with resistless sway. The seat of government is in .Paris, 
and her edicts are obeyed in free America as well as in 
France. But when you get into the rural districts, the 
people cling to an ancient regime ; a fashion, indeed, who 
sat on the throne long years ago, and has never been put 
aside by any revolutions of modern invention. These rural 
Andalusians, in breeches and sandals, with red belt or sash, 
and loose jacket, and conical hat and wide rim turned up 
all around, are dressed as their great-grandfathers were, 
and as their own great-grandchildren will be, and others, 
for generations to come. They had been to the city on an 
excursion, and were now going home again, none the better, 
but a deal the worse for the change of life they had suffered 
in town. 

It was a good opportunity to learn something of the life 
of these people, who form, after all, the great mass of any 
nation, and the part of the people with whom every true 
heart is in sympathy. The rich and the gay, the fashion- 
able people who throng in cities, can live as they please. 
The poor, who live from hand to mouth, and cannot choose 
for themselves, but must live as they can, these are the 
people in every country whose condition we want to inquire 
into ; and when we have learned of their state, we know 
what their country is. It is the average of human comfort 
that we want to get at. 



SEVILLE. 115 

And it is a real help towards one's satisfaction with the 
condition of a people to know that it does not take a vast 
amount of the good things of this life to make one happy, 
if he has never had any thing more or better than the little 
he has been contented with. These Andaiusians work on 
the farms of large proprietors, and get six to ten cents a 
day and their food, when they are working by the season. 
This sounds small. The wages of laboring men who fmd 
themselves, and who work by the day, will average forty or 
fifty cents a day. To know what such pay is worth we 
must know how they live, and what it costs to buy the food 
they have. Their food is chiefly soup of bacon oil and veg- 
etables, with bread and fruit. They take a kettle of this 
thick soup, more like a pudding than a soup, to the fields 
with them ; and day after day, year in and year out, eat 
substantially the same thing. And this food costs the 
peasants a very little more than nothing. The ground is 
easily worked, the climate is so favorable to growth and 
land so abundant, that what can be raised for food is almost 
as accessible to the poor as if vegetables were spontaneous 
and free to everybody. So it is that these /^<9r people are 
quite as well off, as to the mere physical comforts of life, as 
those who get one, two, and five dollars a day in other lands, 
and have to pay so much for food and lodgings as to be 
sorely puzzled to do what a cat often tries to do, — make 
both ends meet. 

These Spanish peasants appear to be lively, intelligent, 
and wide-awake. They give a reason for doing any thing, 
when they are asked ; and that is more than the Irish or 
English peasantry can do at home, or in the land of the 
soaring eagle. Except in Russia, there is not a people 
on the continent of Europe that appear more stolid and 
unthoughtful, more like mere cattle or machines, than the 
farm peasantry of merry England. This may be in appear- 
ance only ; but the truth is that you can get more out of an 



Il6 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

ignorant laborer on the continent of Europe, whose lan- 
guage you do not more than half understand, than out of 
an English farm hand who is supposed to speak English. 

Beer has something to do with this matter of stupidity. 
These southern climates in Europe and this soil are favor- 
able to the culture of wine-grapes, and wine is the solace 
and stimulus of the commonest people. You may buy as ' 
good a bottle of wine for thirty cents in Spain as you would 
have to pay three or four dollars for in New York. And if 
you will not give thirty cents for it, you can have as much 
as you want for little or nothing. Until the railroads were 
built and transportation made easy and cheap, it was com- 
mon, when the new vintage came in, to empty the, casks that 
held what was left over of former years. And a church 
was pointed out to me that was built with mortar made 
with wine instead of water, there being a scarcity of water 
in the vicinity but plenty of wine that was to be thrown 
away. Sherry wine, which • is the sack of Shakespeare and 
Ben Jonson, is the leading wine of Spain, and is made 
now and here just as wine was made in the times of Hesiod 
and Isaiah ; for in such climes as this the people keep on 
doing things as their ancestors or others did in the same 
place thousands of years ago. They drink wine as freely 
as the English drink beer, and as Americans drink rum and 
water. But they do not get drunk as our people do, and 
they are not so stupid as the beer drinkers of England are. 
They are stimulated, of course, and the exhilaration is car- 
ried to excess sometimes. It is not true to say there is 
no drunkenness in wine-growing countries, but the best 
informed men, who had the most abundant opportunities of 
learning the facts in the case, assured me that inte7nperanc€ 
is not common ; that it is very rare among the working 
people of Spain. This is not to be used as an argument in 
favor of wine raising and wine drinking in America. It 
would indeed be better for the health of the drinking men 



SEVILLE. 117 

to drink pure wine than bad whiskey, or the vile compounds 
that are sold as wine in our country. But if wine were as 
cheap in the United States as in Spain, there would be just 
as much intemperance in the United States as now. The 
climate and the strife of such a country as ours furnish 
causes for the use of stimulating drinks that do not exist in 
Italy or Spain ; and philanthropists who discuss and legislate 
on the subject of temperance, without regard to the physical 
circumstances of a people, are in the same case with the 
traveller who reckoned his bill without his host. It is well 
to multiply and fortify wholesome laws to restrain men from 
evil indulgence, and it is our duty to ply all possible moral 
agencies to reform and save our fellow-men ; but our duty 
does not end with legislating and preaching. There are 
social burdens to be raised from the poor by the voluntary 
action of the rich, and by the application of the gospel prin- 
ciple of brotherhood, which will so ameliorate the condition 
of the lowly that they will not be tempted as now, by the 
pressure of weariness, care, and woe, to fly to the intoxi- 
cating cup for help to bear their load, or to forget that it is 
on them. But this disgression is getting dry, if it is on 
drinking. 

A beautiful trait of character and a lovely custom of the 
(Spanish peasantry appear in their love for parents. They 
yield to them obedience^ respect, veneration, and love, after 
they are aged, and the children are men and women grown. 
The married children delight to have their parents to direct 
and govern them as in childhood, and these children even 
quarrel among themselves to get and keep possession of 
their aged parents. This trait of character is said to mark 
a slow country, where the past, the ancient, is held in 
honor; while progress has no such reverence for old 
age. Would to God that we had a little more Spain in ! 
young America, if it is Spanish to honor one's father and 
mother. 



L 



Tl8 



ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 




In the Alameda, at Malaga. 



CHAPTER XL 

MALAGA. 

THE wind blowing from the north-west, — that is, aland 
breeze, at Malaga, excites the nervous system so 
much, that in courts of law it is held to be an extenuating 
circumstance in case of crime. It is therefore of great 
importance to know which way the wind blows when you 



MALAGA. 119 

are proposing to kill your neighbor or to commit a forgery. 
In our country we have hardly got to that point, but in 
Boston, where easterly winds prevail, the phrenologists set 
up a plea in behalf of the Maiden murderer that was quite 
as absurd as the Malaga weather. In New York, the doc- 
trine of mental and moral disturbance is held to be an 
extenuating circumstance in crime. And some of our emi- 
nent citizens, merchants, bankers, lawyers, doctors, and 
ministers have united in representing the strong excite- 
ment engendered by stock speculation, as an excuse for 
forgery. From all of which it is fair to infer that the guilt 
or innocence of a man in the New World, as well as the 
Old, depends very much upon the way the wind blows. 

Malaga is one of the most celebrated resorts for invalids. 
It is not a resort of fashion, like Nice and Mentone, and 
perhaps Sicily is more sought by those whose maladies are 
partly imaginary and the other part nervous. But Malaga 
is a place to which intelligent physicians send hundreds of 
patients who are in a bad way, and yet have a fair chance 
of getting well if they spend a few winters in this uniform, 
genial," mild, but not enervating clime. The warm south 
wind comes in upon it from the sea, on whose shore it lies, 
and the mountains in the rear shield it from the northern 
blasts. In an ordinary room, without fire, the thermometer 
(Fahr.) ranges all winter long from fifty-two to seventy deg., 
never higher or lower, unless when an extraordinary fit of 
weather is on, and the average temperature is about fifty-five 
deg. from November to March. It is six degrees warmer 
than Rome, which is one of the dampest, chilliest, and most 
disagreeable places for an invalid to winter in. I tried hard 
to get well in Florence and Rome and Nice, and then fled 
to Spain, and found what neither Italy nor Southern France 
would furnish, — an equable clime ; warm, but not debilitat- 
ing. Nature has a laboratory for making mineral waters that 
chemists in vain attempt to imitate, and there are peculiar 



120 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

combinations of atmospheric elements in divers places, that 
must be tried on the spot if you would get the good of 
them. The invalid who wishes a climate that braces him 
up without exciting him to cough, will have to breathe in a 
great many places, perhaps, before he finds those opposite 
qualities blended, and if an unprofessional opinion is worth 
any thing, it is here given, that the south of Spain is the 
paradise desired. But nothing is more important for con- 
sumptives than uniformity of climate, and the argument in 
favor of Malaga is complete, when you learn that the range 
or variation of its temperature is less than that of any other 
place on the continent of Europe ! Pau, that beautiful 
little nest in the Pyrenees, so sheltered by the hills that no 
wind visits it too roughly, has a range of no less than sixty- 
eight degrees during the year, and Rome has sixty-two, and 
even Nice, fairest of watering-places for winter, ranges 
sixty, but Malaga has only a range of forty-nine degrees 
in the year. 

It rained almost every day in Rome. It rains in Flor- 
ence implacably, just when you wish it would not. Nice is 
fairer, but not always fair. Malaga is so uniformly pleasant, 
that a day without sunshine is very unusual in the months 
of November, December, and January. Good authority 
says there are not, during the whole year, more than ten 
days on which rain would prevent an invalid from taking 
exercise. It seemed to me that the winter weather in 
Malaga is more nearly like to that of Cairo, in Egypt, than 
any other place, and there are but four degrees of difference 
in the average temperature. 

But take it summer and winter through, and in the last 
nine years it has rained only 262 times, or thirty-nine 
times in the course of each year: and think of it, O ye 
dwellers in London, or Paris, or New York, it has been 
foggy or misty but sixteen days in three times three years ! 
And this bright, beautiful atmosphere gives a blue sky so 



MALAGA. 121 

deep and pure, that it would take a poet of more than aver- 
age fancy power to invent a firmament of superior glory, or 
to find a sunset in Greece or Italy to be mentioned in the 
same day with the gorgeous splendors that clothe the skies 
of Southern Spain at shut of day. 

If you have consumption, or bronchitis, or any malady 
that is working mischief with your breathing apparatus, do 
not be governed, nor even guided, by the hasty generaliza- 
tions of a man who writes from what he sees and hears in a 
tour for health and pleasure through half a dozen countries 
in the course of a season. The most that he can tell you is 
that such a climate as this is said to be excellent for those 
who have consumption already, and is likely to engender it 
where it is not ; and if you cannot reconcile those two say- 
ings of the books and the people, it is well enough to know 
that a sickly plant may be saved by being cared for in a 
hot-house, that might have been made to droop if taken in 
when it was in healthful vigor. Dr. Lee, whose opinion is 
of great weight, regards the climate of Madeira, Pau, or Pisa 
better than that of Malaga, for incipient tubercular disease, 
in persons of an excitable habit. And so much caution is 
to be used in deciding upon the means to be used for saving 
life by change of clime, that I would not write a line on this 
subject if I supposed that any one would be foolish enough 
to make a voyage on the strength of it. 

When a miserly client attempted to get an opinion out of 
a lawyer by asking him at dinner, " What would you advise 
me to do in such and such a case ? " the lawyer answered, 
" I should think the best thing you could do would be to 
take advice." And this is what I advise. 

No finer grapes than those of Malaga do we enjoy at 
home in the winter season, and the trade in raisins is enor- 
mous. We have been familiar with a raisin-box, but it was 
something quite novel to see extensive factories making 
nothing else but these rude little cases, all to be used for 



122 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

packing raisins. The raisin stores or depots where the 
boxes are waiting to be exported were so vast as to aston- 
ish me, but when one thinks of the extent to which they are 
distributed throughout the civiUzed world, it is only wonder- 
ful that the trade is not far greater. 

The country around is flowing with wine and oil. It 
might easily be made to yield cotton and sugar enough to 
supply the market of Europe. But it is in Spaijz^ and 
nothing thrives in Spain but Romanism and its sister. 

Through a succession of streets so narrow that no wheel 
carriages can pass, and designed only for bipeds and quadru- 
peds to go on foot, reeking with smells that made fragrant 
the memory of Cologne, we wound our way, meeting 
Moors from Morocco, in their picturesque costume, caps, 
togas, or shawls, with bare legs and sandals ; meeting gypsy 
women and gypsy men whose home is Spain, and whose 
story is part of life in Spain, we plied our devious walk on 
Sunday into the little square in front of the Malaga Cathe- 
dral. Built of white stone, on the site of a mosque, and 
still retaining part of the old Mahometan structure, it rises 
in a mass about three hundred feet square, to the height of 
130 feet, and the tower rises 220 feet above the roof. High 
mass was celebrated v/hen we entered, and few worshippers 
were present : most of these were women of some " relig- 
ious " order, and some priests, not serving at the altar but 
on their knees before it, on the beautiful pavement of blue 
and white marble. Perhaps the interior is too light and 
florid : the various decorations have been added at periods 
so remote from each other that they lack harmony. But 
what is wanting in severity and solemn majesty is made up in 
the variety of ornament, portals, statues, and wood carvings. 

The tribes of Jordan, in Palestine, once held this city and 
region, reigning and rejoicing in the climate, the soil, and 
the sea. They sent the luscious grapes away to China, 
and Ibu Bathula, who was here in 1630, was quite as 



MALAGA. 123 

delighted with what he had to eat and see as we are, who 
come 230 years after him, for he says : " I have seen eight 
pounds of grapes sold for twopence ; its pomegranates are 
like rubies, and unequalled in the whole world ; its courts 
have no rivals in beauty, and are shaded by wonderful 
groves of oranges." He adds that he saw a preacher col- 
lecting money to ransom some Moors whom a Spanish fleet 
had captured. He rejoiced in the wine of Malaga, and all 
the more, it is probable, because its use was forbidden by 
the Koran : for we have the highest authority to say that 
stolen waters are sweet. And is it not Al-Makkari who 
tells the story of a dying Moor who prayed : " O Lord, of 
all things which thou hast in Paradise, I only ask for two ; 
grant me to drink Malaga and Muscat wine ! " 

The old fortress once stood here, from which the beauti- 
ful Florinde threw herself into the sea, and by her death 
roused the rebellion that was headed by her father, and 
drove from the throne her betrayer, Roderick, the -last of 
the Gothic kings. But all these stories, are they not written 
in the chronicles of Washington Irving, and is there any 
one so incredulous as to doubt the truthfulness of the thou- 
sand-and-one legends of that fascinating and most learned 
historian ? For my part, since I have been dreaming here 
in the Alhambra, I have no more doubt of the Spanish 
tales that he told than I have of the verities of the Arabian 
Nights or the legend of Sleepy Hollow. 

What travel was in Spain before the invention of diligences 
I know not, but probably the rich rode on horse or mule 
back, and the poor footed it ; now that railroads have 
brought distant cities near each other, it is only occasion- 
ally that you are treated to an old-time ride in a coach, and 
perhaps you may be glad that once at least, in Spain, it was 
hecessary for us to undergo this species of locomotion. 

Between Malaga, a great seaport, and Granada, the an- 
cient and glorious city of the Alhambra, there is no com- 



124 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

munication except by diligence. The time is fourteen 
hours. And the hour for starting is six in the evening ! 
You have before you this luxury, of one long, jolting, 
execrable night ride, with no rest, no change from dewy 
eve till morn. You may be a delicate lady, or a feeble old 
man, or a middle-aged invalid, seeking rest and finding 
none; but you must go by the diligence, and go in the 
night and all night, or hire a carriage for yourself, and then 
there is no certainty that you will ever get to the other end 
of your journey. 

The Spanish diligence is divided into two inside compart- 
ments, the berlina or coupe of three seats in front, and 
interior of six. By waiting over a day or two, we were 
able to get possession of the three seats in front, and 
though the fare was more than in the interior, we had 
the comfort of escaping suffocation by tobacco smoke, and 
of seeing the fun ahead. 

At least a hundred ladies and gentlemen, evidently of 
the higher class, assembled at the coach office to take 
leave of some one who was going to Malaga to hold an 
office under government. It was a genteel and decorous 
company, and a sight quite peculiar to the country. In 
America or England, men are often escorted to and from 
the station, but this was a social, rather than a public 
ovation, and was a quiet and handsome farewell to a popu- 
lar man in society. 

Wherewithal shall I give you an idea of the team that 
took us out of Malaga that lovely winter evening ! Ten 
mules, the most refractory, ill-mated, and discordant beasts 
that have served a master since the days of Balaam, were' 
hitched together and to the diligence with rope harness Oi* 
primitive construction. On one of the leaders rode r 
postilion : by the side of the midway pairs ran a mau 
whose duty and privilege it was to beat them ; and the 
wheel mules were guided by reins in the hands of the 



126 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

driver on the top of the diligence. The driver thrashed 
the mules at his feet ; the whipper thrashed the three 
pairs in the middle of the team, and the postilion thrashed 
the leaders. All thrashing at once as fast and as hard 
as they could. All shouting at once at the top of 
. their voices, the lumbering vehicle is at last fairly launched 
and away it goes. The postilion on the forward beasts 
blows his horn to signal the people in the narrow and 
crooked streets that the thing is coming. The driver 
snaps his whip like a revolver, and after the snap brings 
the lash around the flanks of the lazy brutes : the whipper 
is now on one side and now on the other ; whip, whip, 
whip all the while ; kicking, punching, shouting, the mules 
spread themselves all abroad, never pulling in concert, but 
each one on his own hook, and as we got along out of the 
suburbs and into the broader ways of the country, the 
rebellious creatures seemed to grow frantic under the cease- 
less blows rained upon them by their tormentors, and 
plunged and kicked till one of them made confusion all 
confounded by turning a somerset out of his harness and 
bringing the whole concern to a standstill. It was a short 
process, putting him in again, and then away they all 
scampered, more like a drove of cattle than a harnessed 
team, but the beating was redoubled the more they ran, till 
i really began to think it was time for these dumb beasts 
to open their mouths and speak some words of remon- 
strance. And yet how soon we became so demoralized, as 
rather to enjoy the excitement and frolic of the ride. 

Night was drawing on. We begin to ascend the moun- 
tains behind Malaga. The city lies at their feet, all glorious 
in the golden light of a setting sun. The bay is a lake of 
loveliness ; and the sea, unbounded, stretches off under 
the southern sky. Orchards of olives, always green, and 
hills that are vineyards in the season of grapes, and 
orange-trees, are around us, — evidence of a rich and fertile 



MALAGA. 127 

country. Yet every half mile or so an armed patrol guards 
the road to make it safe for travellers, and we have two 
or three on the top of the diUgence with their guns loaded 
to give a welcome to any " gentleman of the road " who 
might be disposed to make free with unsuspecting travel- 
lers. And so, with the excitement of the novel mode of 
transportation, and listening with ears erect to the tales of 
robbers with which Antanazio beguiled the mortal hours, 
we passed a long and wretched night, winding among 
craggy mountains on the verge of precipices, and crossing 
deep ravines. 

It was three o'clock in the morning when we reached 
Loja, where we were to stop for refreshments ! Out of 
the diligence tumbled a miserable set of people, sleepy but 
sleepless, cross and hungry, and made a general rush to 
the hostelry — by courtesy called an inn. Nobody was 
up, but in the course of ten or fifteen minutes a dirty old 
man brought in a pot of chocolate and put a plate of cakes 
in the middle of a table which had been spread with a 
cloth overnight. I noticed little black spots around on 
the cloth, and putting my finger at one of them, away 
hopped a flea, and a flock of them were soon in motion. 
The chocolate was good, and the fleas were stimulating. 
In twenty minutes we were caged again, and, with fresh 
teams and good spirits, set off for Granada. 

About six o'clock in the morning we were passing 
through Santa Fe, — a large town — in the streets of which 
hundreds of men and women were seen standing, about to 
march off in gangs to distant fields to work. The inhabi- 
tants do not live in scattered houses over the country, — 
here and there a farmer's cottage, as with us, — but, dwell- 
ing for safety in villages, they must go miles and miles 
away to and from their fields of daily labor. This Santa 
Fe has a history. It was built by Ferdinand and Isabella 
while laying siege to Granada, and here Columbus came 



128 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

and successfully made his plea for their royal favor and 
help to go out into the ocean in search of a new world. 
He found it that same year. Granada fell in 1492, and 
the last of the Moorish strongholds yielded to Spanish 
power. 

As we rode across the wide and fertile plain that lies in 
front of Granada, the lofty mountains appeared ; the east 
was in shadow, and the west tinged with the rising sun- 
light. Soon the city on a hill rose on the right, crowned 
with the Alhambra. One could not fail to be excited as 
the dreams of childhood and youth were becoming real. 
An hour more and we were in peaceful possession of 
Granada, and comfortably lodged within the grounds of 
the Alhambra. 



THE ALHAMBRA. 1 29 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE ALHAMBRA. 

"XT 7HEN the followers of Berber, the Moorish chieftain, 
' ^ some of whom came from the regions of Damascus 
and the valley of the Jordan, first entered the plain that 
lies in front of Granada, they imagined, in the fervor of 
their Oriental fancies, that they had struck Paradise itself. 
Perhaps they had come back to Damascus, the blessed 
and glorious city of the East, but that and Paradise to 
them were about the same thing. The wide and fertile 
plain was and is watered by two streams like those that 
flowed round about the Eden of sacred story, and if the 
earthly gardens of man's delight were to be an emblem and 
foretaste of the flowers and fruits, the beauty and plenty 
of the gardens of the skies, they were certainly now before 
their eyes. They gave the name of " Damascus of the 
West " to the city that crowned the hill, and shone in the 
summer sun like the great dome to the temple of the King 
of kings. This city was called Granada, from the granates, 
or pomegranates, that then as now grew in abundance, 
with luscious grapes, figs and citrons and olives, and all the 
fruits of a southern and delicious clime. Near by, the 
snow-clad Sierra Nevada reminded them of their own 
Mount Hermon, and over all these was hung a canopy of 
blue, so deep and pure and clear that the sea, reversed and 
lightened by the sun by day, and set with stars at night, 
could not have been more lovely to behold. 

When the empire of the Moors in Spain was broken into 
hostile factions, preparatory to its final extinction, the city 

9 



THE ALHAMBRA. 131 

of Granada fell into the hands of Zawi Ibu Zeyri, who was 
its first king, and established his royal residence here. The 
towers or castle on the summit of the hill, and commanding 
the whole city, were called Alhambra^ which means red 
castle^ and to this color the stones turn after exposure to the 
air, from the oxide of iron they contain. 

Within the walls of this castle, covering an area of seve- 
ral acres, the successive Moorish kings erected palaces, and 
embellishing them according to their own tastes, joined 
walls and towers, and courts and fountains and gardens, 
until in process of time the great enclosure became filled 
with the edifices which this luxurious and extravagant race 
of monarchs desired for themselves, their wives and concu- 
bines, and the hosts of servants and dependants which such 
a style of life, in such a country, must demand. At this 
moment, the palace of the Russian emperor holds five 
thousand persons, all actually required to wait upon the 
Czar and his household and one another. In the Seraglio 
of the Sultan of Turkey 40,000 oxen were eaten yearly, and 
400 sheep a day. An army would therefore be as easily 
lodged as the family of a Moorish king in the palace at 
Granada. What it was in the days of Abu-Abdallah, who 
has the traditional honor of having built the palace itself, or 
of Yusef I., who added lustre to its walls by his gorgeous 
decorations, we can form but a faint conception from what 
we see of it now that it is stripped of its purple and gold, 
and has nothing of its former splendors but the mouldering 
walls and shattered stairs and broken floors. 

The first prince who took up his abode in the Alhambra 
itself was Alhamar, from whom it has been by many sup- 
posed that the palace itself was named. He was a wise, 
gentle, and noble ruler, so widely differing from most of his 
race that he actually preferred peace to war ; and, to make 
it possible for him to pursue without interruption his vast 
beneficent plans for the improvement of the condition of 



132 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

his people, he consented to pay an annual tribute to Ferdi- 
nand, King of Arragon. Alhamar constructed roads to the 
distant parts of his empire, which then reached to Gibral- 
tar ; he built colleges and hospitals ; and the canals that 
carried waters far into the plains for irrigation were the 
work of this barbarian king. Under his reign the city rose 
to its zenith of splendor. The arts and sciences flourished 
as the vine and fig-tree in a genial soil. Wealth, learning, 
genius, taste, and chivalry lent their aid to heighten the 
attractions of this fair city. Yusef, one of his successors, 
added many buildings to those that he had left, and others 
were crowded into the arena in after reigns, so that for two 
hundred and fifty years it was growing in such magnificence 
and beauty, as the soft, languid, and effeminate tastes of a 
luxurious, debauched, and decaying race of irresponsible, 
licentious, and decaying monarchs, with a host of wives to 
prompt them to indulgence in every whim of fancy, could 
invent to add to the delights of their terrestrial paradise. 
What could be looked for as the result of such lives but 
the ruin of the empire. Kings had but short reigns, for 
intrigue, lust, ambition, and murder made one after another 
give place to a rival who sought his bed quite as much as 
his throne. The usurper soon became the enfeebled volup- 
tuary of the harem, and the arm that was as strong as 
Hercules in the battlefield became as weak as a woman's 
when love, not war, was the passion of the hour. A king- 
dom divided against itself cannot stand. The cities of the 
Moors no longer were in league, but each, jealous of the rest, 
was in succession sieged and sacked. 

At last Granada stood alone in its independence and its 
impending ruin. Mohammed Ibu Otsman had bowed his 
neck to the Queen of Castile, and the Alhambra was the 
only Moorish gem which remained to be transferred to the 
Christian crown. Ferdinand of Arragon, by marriage with 
Isabella of Castile, formed at once a union of hearts and 



THE ALHAMBRA. I33 

arms that prepared the way for the overthrow of the last 
remnant of Moorish power in Spain. Columbus, repulsed 
from his native country, had strangely sought aid in this 
distracted land. As if a higher will than his own were 
directing his weary steps, he had pursued these conquerors 
of the Moors over the mountains, and found them in their 
tents within sight of the red towers on the heights of 
Granada. They had other conquests than of unknown 
worlds in view. The prize they sought was gleaming, like 
a sun, between them and the snows of Sierra Nevada. 
They turned a deaf ear, in the din of war, to the tales of 
the adventurous sailor. And he went away. 

He had gone a day's journey on his solitary way to 
Seville and had reached Loja, where we had fleas and cake 
for our lunch this morning, when a messenger from the 
queen arrested his steps and brought him back to the royal 
presence and favor. They gave him the blessing and the 
gold he needed, and then they conquered the Moors, and 
Granada, with its Alhambra, fell into their hands. And in 
the same year Columbus gave them a new world in the 
West. 

Years and years since, even in the long time ago when 
the sunny days of childhood were yet in the glow of their 
noon, I remember wondering " what the Alhambra is." It 
had to me then, and all the way along the lengthening 
years of life, a dreamy rather than a real existence, and if 
at times I read its story, the "Tales of the Alhambra" 
rather increased than weakened the sense of dream-life in 
which alone it was to be enjoyed. 

In Malaga I went into a Spanish bookstore and asked 
for English books on Spain. The bibliopole sent me into 
the garret of his shop, where in a corner was heaped a pile 
of odds and ends of English literature, such as might have 
been left behind by some poor invalids who had perished in 
their perusal, while seeking to get a new lease of life in this 



134 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

delicious clime. But among them were several copies, in 
paper covers, of Irving's " Tales of the Alhambra," whose 
uncut leaves showed them to have been unread and kept for 
sale to passing pilgrims like myself. I carried one off. It 
would be pleasant to read on the spot : and I have read 
them with fresh delight, while every court and wall and 
tower, every fountain, stream, plain, hill is linked with the 
stories that the old master told while he dreamed within 
the ruins of the palace that his fiction has made more 
famous than its history. But reading tales about the 
Alhambra do not tell us what it is, and it is quite likely 
that my account will give you no more intelligible an idea 
of it. 

We have ascended the hill through a long avenue shaded 
with elms, and approach a massive gate, the gate of judg- 
ment, a seat of justice in olden times, where in the open 
air, as was common in Oriental climes, the magistrates, the 
elders, were accustomed to administer the law. " Then he 
made a porch, where he might judge, even a porch of judg- 
ment." I Kings, vii. 7. Many other passages of Scripture 
allude to the same custom. A square tower surmounts the 
gate, and the pillars are inscribed with Arabic legends. 
The horse-shoe arch has a mighty hand in bas-relief, with 
the fingers pointing upward, and on the second arch is a 
key in stone, and the tradition is that the gate was impreg- 
nable until the stone hand should take the stone key and 
unlock the gate for the enemy to enter. Without waiting 
for such a miracle, we pass through the two-leaved gates, 
and by a winding and still ascending path we reach the 
terrace on which the palaces and villas of the Moorish kings 
were built. This plateau is about half a mile long, and 
narrow, surrounded by red walls six feet thick and thirty 
feet high, and made strong by many towers, each one of 
which was the residence of some of the household of royalty. 
The various styles of architecture within and on these walls 



THE ALHAMBRA. 135 

are the best illustrations of the successive races and tastes 
and power of the men who have ruled on this lofty emi- 
nence. Rome and Carthage has each in its turn been mas- 
ter here, and left his sign-manual in characters that time 
has spared. More incongruous, than any thing else is the 
Tuscan palace of Charles V., and a modern parish church 
has risen on the ruins of a mosque. Napoleon's soldiers 
were followed by the English, and modern war is not a 
whit more mindful of the proprieties of art and sentiment 
than the old savagery which we despise. Ruin, deso- 
lation, decay is now the spirit of the place. It is im- 
pressive, eloquent indeed ; perhaps more so than those 
ruins in Egypt and Greece and Rome that have the hoar 
of more centuries upon them. It is not so strange, nor so 
mournful, that the columns and walls should now be in the 
dust that did their duty two, three thousand years ago. It 
seems to be almost becoming that the temples of old pagan- 
ism should moulder in the dispensation of faith that wor- 
ships in spirit only. But it is painfully suggestive of the 
transient nature of all human art and power that these 
massive structures with gorgeous decorations, whose splen- 
dor is only equalled by the fancies of romance, have had 
their rise, their reign, and their ruin all within the lapse of 
the last ten hundred years. 

Antonio Aguilo 'y Fuster, Conseije del Palacio Arabe, 
Alhambra, gave me his card, as we entered a small door in 
the side of a plain wall, and were informed that we were 
now in the palace of the Moors, the veritable Alhambra 
itself ! The important personage whose card was in my 
hand was the guardian of this mysterious realm, and would, 
for the usual consideration of a dollar to him paid, introduce 
us to the several apartments. The contract was concluded, 
and the porter led the way. 

He brought us first into the Court of Myrtles. It is a 
vast open oblong, 170 feet by 74, with a lake in the centre, 



136 • ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

surrounded by a marble pavement and myrtle-trees, from 
which it takes its name. In this lake the wives of the 
Moorish monarch bathed, of course secluded from all eyes 
but his own, and the eunuchs, whose " sentrj boxes " still 
remain. Light and. beautiful columns, with graceful arches 
springing from the capitals, support a gallery on all sides. 
Out of this court open many rooms, whose floors and walls 
and ceilings, with their inscriptions, their delicate tracery 
work, not worth the name of sculpture, but beautiful as 
perishable, are the types of the race that revelled here in 
the beginning of the fourteenth century. Right here Mo- 
hammed III. had his head cut off, and his body was pitched 
into the water where the usurper king Nasr often enjoyed 
the luxury of a bath with his wives. 

The governor, or more properly the janitor, made brief 
comments on the architecture and uses of the various apart- 
ments, and then led us to the Court of Lions. Above all 
other portions of the Alhambra this gives the most correct 
idea of the palace as it was in its ancient and early glory. 
A process of restoration has been going on for some years, 
under the direction of government, and Sr. Contreras hav- 
ing the work in charge, has succeeded so happily that Yusef 
himself, who was the first monarch to indulge in these Ori- 
ental shawl-pattern tracery and tawdry designs, would have 
been delighted to have the modern architect to help him 
from the beginning. And the Emperor of Russia has heard 
such reports of the wonderful restorative powers of this 
skilful manipulator of plaster, that he has ordered an 
Alhambra for himself, a copy of this series of ruined pal- 
aces, which he will keep for a curiosity on the banks of the 
Neva. In the midst of the court is a fountain supported 
by twelve marble lions, in the centre of a vast alabaster 
basin. Standing on the four sides of it are 124 white mar- 
ble pillars, sustaining a light gallery and a pavilion project- 
ing into the court, elaborately adorned with filagree-worked 



THE ALHAMBRA. 1 37 

walls, and a domed roof that admits the tempered light 
and excludes the heat of the sun. This fountain too has 
been filled with blood, for here in the midst of all this 
luxury of splendid decorations the children of Abu Hazen 
were beheaded by the order of their own father. One only 
was spared, and he lived to regret it ; for he lived to be 
the famous and unhappy Boabdil, the last of the Moorish 
kings of Granada. The next hall into which we will enter 
is that of the Abencerrages^ an illustrious family, who fell 
under suspicion of disloyalty to the throne. The wily mon- 
arch invited all the leaders of this line to a feast, and when 
they had been sumptuously entertained, they were invited, 
one by one, to the Court of Lions, which we have just left, 
and each man's head was cut off as he entered. The dark 
spots on the marble floor are, of course, kept sacredly dark 
from year to year, in memory of the treacherous punish- 
ment of imaginary treason. 

The most magnificent of all the halls is that of the 
Ambassadors. It is the largest of the apartments, and is 
seventy-five feet high. It was the grand reception-room, 
where the throne of the Sultan was placed, and around the 
sides of the room are niches where each one of the ambas- 
sadors of foreign courts was seated in state, on great occa- 
sions. The ceiling is curiously wrought in different colors, 
— blue, white, and gold, inlaid wood in crowns and stars 
and wheels. All around are inscriptions celebrating the 
praises of the kings, and couched in the panegyric imagery 
of the Oriental style. 
t It would be tedious to read, if 1 had patience to describe, 

■ the many courts and halls and baths, saloons and chambers, 
K the galleries leading to them, the little gardens where the 

■ sun looks kindly down upon a few plants and flowers, and 

■ to tell you of the thousand-and-one tales with which so 

■ many of these towers and chambers have been made 

I" ~ '" "" ■'" " •■ 



138 



ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 



jealousy, in all ages, and under a system that makes 
intrigue and lust the great amusement of life, the history 
of the harem has always been a story of suspicion and 
blood. 







''01 



Portion of a Door. 



Bensaken is ^/le guide to the Alhambra. Others are 
willing to lead you through the labyrinth, and will talk to 
you as they go, in a mixture of Spanish, Italian, French, 
and English, with a dash of Arabic, which they have 
picked up from the translations of inscriptions on the 
walls ; but they are all ignorant fellows, who live by the 
ignorance of those to whom they tell their stories. Now 



THE ALHAMBRA. 1 39 

Bensaken is an Englishman, born in Gibraltar, and has 
lived to be seventy years old in Spain ; has been through 
all these years adding to his knowledge of the country, its 
history and its condition, especially all that relates to the 
Moors, Granada, and the Alhambra, until he has grown 
into a walking cyclopedia of Spanish lore. And this 
learning of his he guards so cautiously that when other 
guides and interpreters, with travellers so unhappy as to 
have fallen into their hands, would come near to us while 
our learned Bensaken was discoursing to us of the wonder- 
ful mysteries of the Alhambra, its legends and its uses, he 
would suddenly pause in his interesting narrations, and 
begging pardon for his silence, would wait until they had 
passed beyond hearing ; for, said our veracious and most 
agreeable Bensaken, " I cannot afford to let them fellows 
know what I have been learning all these years of my life, 
I have forgot enough to set all of them up in business." 

" Did you know our countryman, Washington Irving, 
when he was here ? " I inquired. 

" Oh yes, and a nice, worthy gentleman he was : so kind, 
so pleasant always ; but he did not keep very closely to 
the facts : to tell you the truth, those are very beautiful 
stories of Mr. Irving, but the most of them are all in your 
eye, sir." , 

" He speaks of the good people who lived here when he 
lodged in the Alhambra, and a fair maiden to whom he 
gave the name of Dolores, and a noble young man, Molina, 
or something like that ; what ever became of them, can 
you tell me .'' " 

Bensaken gave a low little laugh, and said that Dolores 
was a coarse and dowdy drudge, whom the warm imagina- 
tion of the author had invested with purely rhetorical 
charms, and the other occupants of the palace had no 
claims to distinction. One of them whom he mentioned 
was murdered in a street brawl, and the whole family had 



140 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

passed into oblivion. Yet their names will live in the sto- 
ries of the Alhambra while the genial and smoothly flowing 
pages of Irving are read as the pleasantest and most 
reliable account of the traditions of this wondrous pile. 

We went down into the garden of the Queen's prison, 
and on a little patch of green we stood while Bensaken 
pointed to the gallery where she was permitted to walk 
and take the air and enjoy the sunlight, but the various 
chambers to which she was restricted had no exit. This 
was not very close confinement, to be sure, but it becomes 
intolerable, even the luxury of a palace, with a flower gar- 
den in its court, and gorgeous hangings and gilded ceihngs 
and marvellous sculptures, if the royal lodger is a prisoner, 
and hopes for no exit but through the gate that opens in 
the tomb. 

And then we visited the " Hall of Two Sisters," so fanci- 
fully named because of two immense marble slabs, which 
form a part of the pavement. The decorations of this 
apartment are exceedingly beautiful. The stalactite roof 
is said to consist of 5,000 pieces, and though all this plas- 
ter ornamentation is supported only by reeds, it remains 
almost unbroken as it was when first put up. These were 
the private apartments of the wives and slaves of the Sul- 
tan,- and were furnished with couches and divans, and the 
walls are covered with love poems, in the glowing language 
of the East, celebrating the sensual delights of these 
voluptuaries of the harem. All that architecture and 
upholstery, poetry and taste could supply for the embel- 
lishment of chambers of pleasure, were lavished with 
wasteful profusion here, or, to use the more familiar terms 
of our Western phraseology, " they were got up regardless 
of expense." 

Passing out upon a balcony we looked down upon the 
Linderaka gardens, which once were the delight of a prin- 
cess whose name, Linda Raxa, was the same as Pretty 



THE ALHAMBRA. I4I 

Rachel ; she became a Christian, and her story, if put into 
the hands of a skilful manufacturer, would make a beautiful 
romance, with more truth than is necessary for half a dozen 
modern historical novels. The dressing-room of the Queen 
in one of the towers has a look-out upon the surrounding 
country; the Sierra Nevada, rising ii,ooo feet, and so near 
in this clear atmosphere that it seems close at hand, and 
one feels the coolness of the snow-cliffs on its sides ; there 
is the house, now a college, where Christians suffered 
martyrdom under Domitian and Nero ; those huts in the 
hill in front and those holes into the hill itself are the habi- 
tations of gypsies, whose home is Spain, and who are very 
numerous in these parts ; the city of Granada itself lies at 
our feet; once it had more than a thousand towers, and 
now it" has more than 500, and they are monuments of 
departed glory. Yet there is nothing in the city so mourn- 
fully eloquent of human folly and frailty as the ruin in which 
we are standing. Here is a wide marble slab, pierced with 
twelve holes, and below the slab is the chamber where the 
perfume was prepared, and as it ascended the Queen stood 
over these holes, and was made suitably fragrant I In the 
days of Esther similar means were evidently in use, and 
they were probably quite as salutary and agreeable as the 
modern condensations which in a bag or bottle furnish the 
necessary facilities for making lovely woman odorous to her 
friends. 

Down below was a suite of rooms where the baths for 
the Sultan and the children were arranged, with pipes for 
the supply of hot and cold water, as convenient as in "' a 
house with all the modern improvements." Places for 
couches, galleries for musicians whose melodies would 
make the luxury of the bath more enjoyable ; the pavement 
is of white marble, the roof is pierced with holes like stars, 
and the whole arrangement corresponds with the baths of 
Turkey and Cairo at the present day. 



142 



ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 



And the long passage through which we were now con- 
ducted led to the dungeons of the castle ; most of them are 
walled up, but one was left open that we might see how 




The Vermilion Tower. 

short and easy was the mode of disposing of an unhappy 
victim of jealousy or revenge, who could be built into a 
recess and find it a dying bed and grave. It was a long 
subterranean walk till we came out to the governor's court. 



THE ALHAMBRA. 143 

Here* I saw what I had not supposed to be possible, — a 
marble slab bent into the shape of a bow by the weight of a 
wall falling and resting upon it. 

On every balcony and at every window the wise Bensaken 
was ready with a tale of love, or blood, or gold ; and it 
would be hard to say in which he most delighted to indulge. 
He was sure that out of this window the beautiful Zoraya, 
the "Morning Star" of Abu Hazen, she that was once 
Dona Isabel de Solis, a fair Christian captive who became 
the favorite Sultana, and the mother of Boabdil, let him 
down by a basket into an abyss from which he escaped and 
saved his life, to become afterwards the last of the race of 
princes here. But I must tell you one of his stories that 
he knows to be true, and which has never yet been entered 
into any chronicles of the Alhambra. 



144 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE ALHAMBRA {Contmued). 

TDLASICHO, or, in good English, poor Bias, was an 
^^ honest worker in leather, a mender of soles, in the 
city of Granada. There are streets in this queer old town 
wholly given up to one or another handicraft, and it is 
rather pleasing than otherwise to see the rule disproved 
that two of a trade can never agree. Perhaps it is easier 
for a whole street full of cobblers, or tinkers, or carders, or 
smiths, to live in peace, than it would be for only two rivals 
in trade, who would be jealous of each other as natural 
foes. It was curious to follow the walks along and see 
the little shops, sometimes not more than five or ten feet 
square, filled with the wares and the workmen, so that a 
customer would have had hard work to wedge himself in 
if he would be measured for a coat or boots, or examine 
the goods for sale. It looked as if there were some people 
willing to work, though we heard of a shoemaker who was 
called upon by a traveller like ourselves to repair his dilapi- 
dated shoe : the cobbler called out to his wife to tell him 
how much money there was on hand, and learning that she 
had enough to get them supper, he declined doing the 
work. This was in literal compliance with the Spanish rule 
which requires a man never to do to-day what can be put 
off till to-morrow. 

Blasicho had a hard time of it to get work enough to 
earn the bread that his wife and his little ones must have 
from day to day, and he hated work, as all his neighbors 
did, and all his race do. If he had a wife with a cheerful 



THE ALHAMBRA. 1 45 

temper, to cheer him as he beat his leather on his knee, per- 
haps it would have been better for him and his, for it does 
make work light and easy to have a good-natured woman 
near at hand, to say a pleasant word and hear even one's 
complaints with a sympathetic smile. But the wife of 
Blasicho was neither fair to look upon nor gentle in her 
temper, and she led the poor cobbler a vexed and weary life 
of it. His lapstone was not harder than the heart of his 
spouse, and the blows that he gave it were more in number, 
but not more severe, than she rained upon him, when their 
words grew into quarrels that always ended in the thorough 
discomfiture of the man of the house. Her great sorrow 
was that she had not wealth : her sisters had found hus- 
bands who could give them the be^t of every thing, and as 
much as they required to make fine ladies of them, but she 
had married a cobbler too poor to live without work, and 
too lazy to work, and the only blessing they had in abun- 
dance was a flock of children that grew in stature and 
numbers every year, and demanded more and more to 
keep them alive. She dinned her woes into his ears, and 
his poor soul was worried to despair by the ceaseless 
pother of her querulous tongue. 

He wanted money. If California had been part of the 
known world in the day of Blasicho's misery, his greed 
would have driven him to the mines in search of gold. 
But gold he must have, or his wife would worry him to 
death. He had heard that the Moors had left heaps of 
gold in the earth all around him, and if he had some rod 
to guide him to the sacred spot where the treasure was 
concealed, it would be the making of him for life, to dig 
it and carry it home to gladden the heart of his discon- 
tented wife, and stop the everlasting run of her complain- 
ing tongue. Day after day he walked around the hill of . 
which the Alhambra in its glory and decay is still the 
crown, and he studied the projecting rocks and the graceful 



146 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

curves and gentle depressions, and the peculiar growth 
of the citron and pomegranate, to discover some signs 
of a place where it might be that in the olden time some 
Moorish miser, or in later time some Spanish pirate com- 
ing home from foreign pleasures, had buried his gold. 
His hope was suddenly kindled into certainty. One sunny 
morning he was taking his daily, walk about the sacred hill, 
and passing through the deep cut on the eastern side, 
where far above his head the aqueduct with the waters of 
the river run into the Alhambra with its refreshing and 
ceaseless flow, he sat down to rest awhile and muse upon 
his hapless lot, and the hopeless search in which he was 
wasting his days. He looked up at the craggy side through 
which the red rock cropped, and on the scanty soil in which 
the almond shrubs were struggling to hold their own, and 
he was wishing that one of those red rocks were a ruby or 
even a lump of gold, when a dove, whose home was in the 
Tower of Comares, flew down upon a projecting rock, and 
cocking his eye most knowingly, looked below as if it saw 
something there that would be worth having. Blasicho ob- 
served the motion, and the thought came to him that the 
dove was a messenger to point him to the spot where his 
treasure lay. He took note of the rock, and drew a line, 
with his eye, to the foot of the hill where the bird's eye 
had guided his search. A few feet from the path, up the 
cliff-side, was a ledge of rock, and it was easy to see that, 
a century or two ago, a man might have stood on it and 
worked into the mountain and buried his gold. The ledge 
would be the mark by which he could find it, and its height 
was such that no one would suspect that such a spot would 
be chosen as a hiding-place for money. 

Poor Bias went home with his head full of the dove and 
the gold. All day as he sat on his bench pretending to work, 
the beautiful neck of the dove, with his head turned side- 
ways, and his one eye down looking to the ledge, was before 



THE ALHAMBRA. 147 

him. That night he dreamed that he went there and broke 
into the hill with a pick and found a heap of gold. The 
next morning he went there and the dove came again, and 
again she peered into the ledge from above, and again Bla- 
sicho was comforted with the strengthened hope. He 
dreamed the second time the same, and came the third 
morning and the dove met him as before ; and again, the 
third night, he dreamed that he burst into the mountain 
and was the possessor of more gold than his insatiable 
spouse had ever dreamed of having. This was more than 
the anxious cobbler could endure. and be quiet. That night 
in the darkness and alone, for there was no one in Granada 
he could trust with his discovery, Blasicho sought the 
ravine, climbed cautiously to the ledge with a bar of iron to 
aid him in his burglary. He struck in vigorously, for it 
might be a long night's work, and time was precious. The 
hollow sound that answered his blows quickened his heart- 
beats, for it assured him there was a chamber within. The 
debris was fast piling at his feet. He was already inside 
the hill. He heard something grating, rattling above and 
near him ; he rose to his feet only to be struck with a 
land-slip which his digging had started : it caught him, 
dashed him off his perch, buried him, bruised him, half 
killed him, at the foot of his golden hill. The poor fellow 
struggled from underneath the mass of dirt and stones, and 
luckily finding no bones were broken, but more dead than 
alive, he crept home and went to sleep, while his wife was 
dinging into his ears her reproaches for his bad habits of 
being out late at nights. He was cured of hunting for gold 
in the dark. He became a new man, a new cobbler. His 
early hammer advertised his conversion. Business revived. 
He had to have some more help in the shop. The shop was 
soon too small. He wanted to enlarge it, and for that pur- 
pose he got permission of his landlord to dig away the hill 
in the rear to make room for an extension. This work he 



148 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

performed with his own hands after the day's work in the 
shop. That digging made him rich ! What he found he 
had wit enough to keep secret, even from his wife, for if 
his landlord should hear of it, he would lay claim to it as in 
his soil. But Blasicho went on with his cobbling and build- 
ing. He bought a few lots in one of the fashionable quarters 
of Granada, and to each of his daughters, to whom suitors 
came in numbers, now that he was evidently prosperous, he 
gave a handsome house and portion. 

More than all, and better, his wife's temper improved. 
He and she still lived over the shop, but the apartments 
were embellished with all the comforts that the amiable 
woman wanted, and she was proud, and not humbled, when 
her sisters came to see her. None of them knew the source 
of his sudden wealth, and indeed he was cunning enough 
to develop gradually, so that it was attributed to his in- 
creasing business, and his good luck in trade. 

He knew that it all came of his being cured of money 
digging, and sticking to his work. He had never heard of 
the Latin proverb, ne sittor ultra crepidam^ — let the cobbler 
stick to his last, — but he knew the soundness of the prin- 
ciple. And he taught his grandchildren, who were fond of 
visiting him, that when he tried to get rich in a hurry he 
got nothing but wounds and bruises ; but when he worked 
faithfully and steadily at his trade, prosperity followed his 
labors, and his days were crowned with plenty, contentment, 
and love. 

An old woman sat at the foot of the stone stairway, and 
took the fee that admitted us to the Watch Tower. On the 
southern edge of the hill, and rising high above the rampart, 
the broad flat roof of the tower affords an off-look that 
scarcely has an equal for beauty of prospect and interest 
in historical association. A bell swings in a turret ; the 
rope hangs within reach ; and there is magic in the ring. 
For the second day of January is a great fete day in Gran- 



THE ALHAMBRA. 1 49 

ada, — the anniversary of the capture of the city by Ferdi- 
nand and Isabella in 1492, — and every maiden who ascends 
this tower on that day, and rings the bell with her own hand, 
is sure to have a wedding ring on her hand in the course 
of the year. The bell therefore rings right merrily on the 
fete day from early morn to set of sun, and the sign is as 
sure as any of the many that love and folly have conjured. 

And in the far west, across the plain, rise the Para- 
panda Mountains, on whose top a cloud resting is a sign of 
rain, and when it hangs there they say it will rain " if God 
wills ; " but if the cloud descends the mountain-side they 
say " it will rain if God wills or noT 

There too, off on the verge of the plain, lies a farm of 
4,000 acres which the Spanish government gave to the 
Duke of Wellington for his expulsion of the French, and 
his heirs now derive a revenue of some $20,000 annually 
from the land. 

And that gap in the mountains is the pass where Moor 
and Christian, the Cross and Crescent, have encountered 
each other in murderous fight, when knights in armor met 
hand to hand, and in protracted battles far more bloody 
and fierce than in our modern warfare they contended for 
the possession of this beautiful vale. 

It is called the vega, or the plain, and from the watch- 
tower on which we are now standing we have the best 
view of it. Two rivers, like those that watered Paradise, 
flow across it, — the Darro, which the Moors called Hadaroh 
and the Romans Calom, and the Genii, which the ancients 
knew as the river Singilis. This fertile and beautiful 
plain stretches thirty miles or more away from the city of 
Granada, like a vast amphitheatre, a prairie sea : now 
and then a white cluster of houses, a little village, like an 
island on the surface of this great ocean of corn and wine. 
The snow-clad heights of Sierra Nevada rise to the bluest 
of blue heavens that cover it as an infinite dome, and 



150 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

the five-hundred-towered city stands on this rocky height 
in the midst of this magnificent panorama, the green mead- 
ows and vineyards of the vega below, the white-capped 
mountains around, and the cerulean skies, so pure, so deep, 
so lovingly bending over and embracing the whole. 

But the bell on the watch-tower answers a better pur- 
pose than merely to ring husbands for the lively Spanish 
girls. This plain is to be watered by these rivers, and 
they must be led away from their own banks by artificial 
channels to the thousands of plantations into which it is 
divided. But the rivers are not sufficient to allow the 
continuous flow of water through all these canals for irri- 
gation, and the time and quantity of water are regulated 
by law. Each man has his water-gate, through which the 
stream is to come, and the hour when he is to open his 
gate and when to close is announced from the tower. At 
the stroke of one, all within a certain distance open their 
gates, and the water ficw^s in upon their fields, until 
the bell strikes again, when they close, and the next open 
theirs, and so the supply is extended from one to another 
and the whole plain is watered. 

The " Sigh of the Moor " is the name of that mountain 
in the south-east horizon, on the way to the sea-coast, and 
it gets its name from the tradition that when the last of 
the Moorish kings, the unhappy Boabdil of whom we have 
been speaking often, was flying from the city, he paused 
here, and as he looked back upon Granada " he saw a 
light cloud of smoke burst from the beautiful and beloved 
Alhambra, and presently a peal of artillery told that the 
throne of the Moslem kings was lost for ever. 'AlUh 
Achbar, God is great ! ' he exclaimed ; and, unable to refrain 
his grief, he burst into a flood of tears. ' Weep not,' said 
his mother, -the stern proud Azeshah, 'weep not as a 
woman for the loss of a kingdom which you knew not 
how to defend as a man.' " 



THE ALHAMBRA. I5I 

As Bensaken pointed to the mountain of " El Ultimo 
Suspiro del Moro," and told this sad story of the Sigh of 
the Moor, the tears stood in the old man's eyes, and he was 
actually in sympathy with the Moor Boabdil who ran away 
from this tower nearly four hundred years ago. 

Behind those hills, and in the valley beyond, there are to 
this day villages inhabited by a race of people who retain 
the Moorish manners and customs, mingling the Roman 
and Mahometan forms of worship, using no knives or 
forks, but eating with their fingers, in the Oriental style, 
and preserving with traditional jealousy the prejudices of 
the race that has been so long extinct in Spain. Rarely 
does a traveller climb the heights that stand between those 
settlements and the higher civilization of the plains and 
cities, but the few who push their adventurous way into 
those uninviting regions find themselves suddenly carried 
back into life and times of which we read now-a-days as if 
in the pages of romance. 

Walking across the tower, we look down into a court, 
where a guard of soldiers is keeping watch over a prison ! 
And, to our amazement, we find that we are in the very 
midst of the walls that contain four or five hMndxQd politi- 
cal prisoners, who are here in durance vile for real or 
suspected offences. It is not the fashion at present to 
put to death political offenders, and the poor fellows that 
are shut up in these walls, hopeless and helpless, are per- 
haps on the whole disposed to think themselves better 
off than if they had lost their heads. Once the late 
queen punished the whole of her congress, some hundred 
and fifty, and sent them to prison, or foreign parts, think- 
ing that their room was worth more than the advice 
they were disposed to give her. Some of the prisoners 
here confined are men of high social standing and of com- 
manding influence in the country, but in the miserable 
strife for power and wealth, and the game of politics, which 



152 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

is more corrupt, if possible, here in Spain than in our own 
country, they have fallen victims to successful rivals, and 
are now wasting away in the dungeons of the Alhambra. 
Some of them had obtained the special favor of working in 
the gardens and among the flowers and shrubbery ; and, 
under the genial beams of the bright sun in winter, they 
found a grateful mitigation of their sufferings. 

We had seen enough for one day, and took a ride over 
the city. Bensaken pointed out, as we passed the modest 
mansion in which the late beautiful Empress of the French 
was born. Her father. Count Montejo, fell in love with a 
daughter of the British consul at Malaga, Mr. Kirkpatrick, 
whose name unites Scotland and Ireland. The count mar- 
ried her, and Eugenie is their daughter. Her grandfather 
is therefore a Scotch-Irish-English gentleman. Some of 
her relatives are not of much account. One of them 
asked of me the gift of a glass of whiskey. 

Not far from the Alhambra, and a pleasant walk across 
the fields, is the Generaliffe, a pleasure-palace in olden 
time, a retreat in the country from the more stately gran- 
deur and closer confinement of the citadel. 

It has been preserved with greater care, or perhaps 
restored from time to time, and is now one of the most 
interesting remnants of the Moorish dynasty. Its courts 
are paved with marbles, gladdened with fountains and flow- 
ers, and from 'some of them tall cypresses rise, which in 
other countries would rather adorn a burial-place than a 
palace court. One of them is the famous tree under which 
the beautiful Sultana Zoraya was sitting when one of the 
Abencerrages came to prefer a petition, and being seen to 
kneel before her, was suspected of making love, and her 
life and that of all his family was the forfeit. Bensaken 
was greatly provoked by the evident disposition of the 
writers of historical tales to insinuate that the Queen was 
actually receiving a lover, while he makes out a case of 



THE ALHAMBRA. I 53 

innocence and positively merciful virtue that would melt 
a heart of stone. 

But if Bensaken was kind in his judgment of the ancient 
Queen, whose guilt or innocence will never be made the 
subject of inquiry before a court of impeachment in this 
world, he was less inclined to say a good word for the 
women of Spain. And in this matter he was no harder 
on them than others who have lived long enough in this 
demonstrative country to know the facts in the case. The 
women of Spain are, as a nation, more beautiful than those 
of any foreign country in which I have travelled, and this 
average beauty covers the peasant classes as well as the 
better-born. This is to be mentioned in connection with 
the fact stated by all who are familiar with Spain, that 
virtue is scarcely known. It is impossible, without dis- 
regard of the proprieties, to go into the statistics which 
an illustration of this fact would require. I was repeatedly 
assured that ladies would regard it as a reproach, an evi- 
dence that they were slighted, if they had not an acknowl- 
edged lover besides their legal lord. Of course the men 
are worse than the women, if worse can be, and little or 
no disgrace can be said to accrue when the vice is so com- 
mon that virtue is an exception, and is despised at that. 
If it be asked, how can such a state of things be, when 
the church embraces in its bosom all the people, young 
and old, and confession is required of all who commune ? 
the answer is easy. The forced celibacy of the priests 
tends to corruption, and they have no moral power over 
the people, unless it be a moral power for evil. And this 
vice is not necessarily a vice of a Roman Catholic people : 
it is the vice of the climate : as genial to the south as 
intemperance in drink is to the north. We must be chari- 
table in our judgments of our neighbors and our fellow- 
sinners everywhere. It is a very common impression that 
the sins of a people are fashioned by the type of the reli- 



154 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

gion they profess ; and that this vice, which prevails all 
over the south of Europe, has some relation to the Roman 
Catholic religion, which is also the ruling influence of 
church and state. Doubtless the reformation of the 
church would reform the state also, but human nature 
will remain substantially the same, and the vices peculiar 
to the climate would still discover themselves to a greater 
or less extent. Under the Protestant influences of the 
north of Europe, intemperance prevails fearfully. So it 
does in our country, in spite of the highest moral culture 
and the best opportunities of education. Religion in its 
purest forms does not reach the masses of mankind in any 
country so as to save all of them from vice, and in its 
imperfect development, as in Romish or half-reformed 
countries, it is even less powerful to deter the multitude 
from evil. 



GRANADA, 1 55 



CHAPTER XIV. 

GRANADA. 

"\T THEN we came down this evening from the Generaliffe, 
^ ^ we found a curious group in the vestibule of the 
inn where we were lodged, and a picture of troubadour and 
gypsy life in Spain was before us suddenly. A dwarf, so 
stout and short as to be a monster in his appearance, and 
two or three girls to sing and play with a rude tambourine, 
made hideous dancing. The landlord and landlord's wife, 
the two daughters of the landlord and their husbands, — 
two lazy fellows who helped one another do nothing all day 
long, — were seated around, enjoying the scene. The short 
fellow was short mainly in his legs, which, indeed, were 
not much longer than his neck ; and the antics he cut up 
were grotesque and ludicrous in the extreme. But who 
could refrain from joining in the dance to the music, rude 
as it was ? The landlord's daughters could not, and with a 
little coaxing the dandy husbands were brought upon the 
floor ; other young people, hearing the fun, dropped in, the 
frolic became general, and we were treated to an impromptu 
Spanish fandango, of which I do not propose to be the re- 
porter. It was not amusing merely, but interesting also to 
observe the phase of lower life among these people, and to 
see how easily they could find entertainment without going 
out of doors to get it. The ugly dwarf went through the 
company, cap in hand, gathered a few pence, and with his 
little troupe hobbled off to try his luck at some other place. 
They told me that he lives in the mountains, many leagues 



GRANADA. 15/ 

away from Granada, but comes down to town, during the 
season of company, to exhibit himself. And in this, too, 
he is not unhke the degraded in other parts of the world, 
who are always Avilling to make a living by their deformities, 
if they can get a chance. 

The gypsies held a horse fair in Granada to-day. We 
found them in great numbers, from distant parts of the 
country. It was a new scene and phase of life. Gypsies 
are seen in England, in America, in Germany, in Italy, 
indeed there is hardly a country unvexed by gypsies. 
Wandering over the world, having no continuing city or 
abiding place, like the frogs of the land from which they 
get their name, they find their way into king's houses and 
everybody's house, — lying, cheating, stealing, peddling, 
and meddling, a nuisance and a curse. But the gypsies of 
Spain are a race by themselves, and not the ancestors nor 
the children of the gypsies of the other lands I have named. 
They have indeed a language with many words in common, 
and their habits are similar all the world over, but these 
gypsies of Spain are a race by themselves. Where they 
came from, and who they are, it is hard to say. They are 
usually spoken of as from Egypt, and being once called 
Egyptians, then gyptians, — the name easily runs into 
gypsies in the English tongue. But they are called gitanos 
in Spanish, and the race has no relations with the wander- 
ing tribes or families that roam throughout Europe and the 
Western World. 

They are, as a people, — at least they seemed to me, — 
larger and stouter than the Spanish ; and by no means so 
well-favored. Dark complexions, black eyes, long straight 
black hair, high cheek-bones, and short noses, they re- 
semble North American Indians more than any European 
race. They are not cleanly in their persons, nor their 
dwellings ; their roaming habits lead them to eat and sleep 
anywhere, with their dogs and donkeys ; they dwell in 



158 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

caves if no better houses are at their command, and the 
hill behind the city, which we see from the towers of the 
Alhambra, is pierced with holes that lead into the chambers 
where they make their homes. They have also one quarter 
of the town where they have dwellings, but the walls of a 
city are not agreeable to the freedom of their wills, and they 
prefer the hills and the country. 

They have no moral principle. There is but one virtue 
known among them, and that is so rare in Spain, and so 
remarkable among such a people, that it must be set down 
to their credit at the very start. The women are chaste, 
and that to a degree that perhaps no other people in the 
world can claim. It is the one feature of their character 
that redeems them from the curse of utter and hopeless 
vagabondism, and, standing out as it does like an ivory 
tower in the midst of a waste of moral ruin, its beauty is 
the more lovely and its existence the more wonderful. I 
cannot say what I would of the care with which mothers 
guard their daughters from contamination with their own 
race and the outside world ; and I cannot add another word 
in their praise. They live by fraud. Known to the world 
as swindlers and liars and thieves, they are nevertheless 
tolerated, and perhaps because feared ; their ill-will being 
dreaded, and their friendship supposed to be conciliated by 
complying with their demands. 

They get power over people in the same way that spirit- 
nalists do : by appealing to that latent superstition which 
lurks in almost every human bosom, and is much stronger 
in some than others, and is often strongest in those who 
would be the least suspected of such a weakness. Thus 
the women of this gypsy race are fortune-tellers. The 
young women of Spain, like the young women of every 
country that I have seen, have some curiosity and crediility, 
upon which a shrewd impostor will easily play and extort 
money as the reward of her trickery. To these young 



GRANADA. 1 59 

women lovers are promised, and when the pride or the pas- 
sion of the young is tickled with the promise, the prophet 
is not very sharply questioned or judged. One very common 
trick performed by the gypsy women in Spain has been 
reproduced in our country and in England again and again, 
and will be repeated as long as rogues can find fools to be 
duped. As love is the ruling passion of the young, avarice 
is of older people, and to make a heap of money out of a 
handful is the great desire of the soul. The gypsy woman 
promises a lady to teach her how to make a trunkful of 
gold out of a few hundred dollars. The lady is to take all 
her gold, and to get as much as she can, and tie it up in a 
white handkerchief in the presence of the gypsy, then to 
keep it carefully by her side, night and day, for three days, 
then the gypsy is to return and they are to deposit it in a 
trunk over which the gypsy is to say her form of words, and 
then the trunk is to be carefully locked and guarded for 
three weeks, and when opened is to be found filled with 
gold. The gypsy, returning after three days' absence, comes 
with a bundle of rubbish tied up in a white handkerchief 
concealed under her mantle, and easily substitutes it for the 
one which the lady has watched for three days, and after 
the other is well locked up she disappears, to be heard of 
no more in that quarter. A trick so stupid and silly one 
would hardly believe could be practised once ; but it is 
played every year, upon many victims, in all countries. 
Last summer a spiritualist woman in Paris assured a gen- 
tleman that large treasures were buried in the grounds about 
his house, and he spent thousands and thousands in tearing 
up his place to find it. The woman got the most of the 
money spent, and he is hunting yet. But these gypsies are 
not mere fortune-tellers, they are traders and tinkers ; they 
deal in horse-flesh particularly, and are a striking illustration 
of the curious fact that trading horses, buying and selling 
horses, all the world over, has some affinities with trickery. 



l6o ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

Why it is, perhaps, the attention of psychologists has not 
been sufficiently long directed to the subject to say ; but 
gypsies and jockeys are usually reckoned as belonging to 
the same class, and nobody is expected to trust either. 

Bensaken went with us among these strange people, and 
as he understood their language, he made our visit among 
them exceedingly entertaining, and the facts that we 
gathered from him and them of their haunts and habits 
are perhaps as reliable as those which Borrow and others 
have furnished. I could not learn that they have any 
religious system. They believe in one God, but they have 
more to do with the devil, whether they believe in him or 
not. They have no faith in anybody. Why should they, 
or rather how could they .? Intending to keep faith with 
nobody, and living only to deceive, they cannot be expected 
to believe. If they are not lineal descendants of Ishmael, 
they are like the Arabs, a nomadic race, and their hands 
are against every ma.n, and every man's against them. 

I fell to musing over the change that three or four hun- 
dred years had made in the state of things on this famous 
spot. For we are within the grounds of the Alhambra. 
And the time was when the splendor of Oriental courts 
was shining here in its brightest array, and the luxury of 
kings and queens was spread about these seats that are 
now the scene of this low revelry and mirth. The vanity of 
earth is impressed upon me by this miserable show. The 
fashion of this world passeth away. And, indeed, the les- 
son of the Alhambra is the strangest, saddest lesson that 
ruins teach. Its walls, its towers, its turrets, its g^tes, in 
their decay, as they yet linger on the heights overlooking 
the city and the plain, seem to say, We are witnesses to- 
day that the glory of kings is fleeting as the dew of the 
morning : 

"The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces, 
The solemn temples — " 



GRANADA. l6l 

have dissolved ; and the wreck behind is the monument of 
a departed race, an extinct dynasty, a better, wiser, nobler 
race by far than that which now inhabits the land. For 
when the Moors went out of Spain, they carried with them 
arts, science, enterprise, energy, strength, and taste. They 
left a people in possession ignorant, proud, ' bigoted, and 
indolent : a people that now, in the midst of an advancing 
age, is making no advance ; a people who carry earth in 
baskets instead of wheelbarrows, and wood on donkeys 
instead of using carts ! 

Two things astonished me in Spain : the one, that 
the pictures in her galleries were so great and good, 
and the other that her cathedrals so far excel the rest of 
European temples in the grandeur of their architecture. 
Poor as Spain is now, we must not forget that it was 
once the most powerful of kingdoms, and the mistress 
of a world of its own. And the arts and sciences once 
flourished here as they did in the brightest days of 
Grecian and Roman glory. The paintings that are 
gathered in Madrid are probably as valuable in the eyes 
of the artistic world as those of any other gallery ; and 
there are half a dozen cathedrals in Spain that are not 
equalled by the same number in all the rest of the Con- 
tinent. One who visited them will not be apt to forget 
the florid beauty of the one at Burgos, the massive 
grandeur of that in Toledo, the thousand columns that 
sustain the arches on which rests the roof of the converted 
mosque at Cordova, or, the most majestic of them all, 
the vast and solemn pile that stands in Seville ; nor will 
he readily lose the impressions made upon his soul by the 
cathedral at Granada, into which we are now entering, as 
we are about to take leave of the Alhambra, and go to 
the north of Europe. 

It was the design of the founders of this temple to make 
it the most splendid in the world ; and this weak and un- 



1 62 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

worthy ambition has doubtless given to us many noble 
monuments of genius and labor which a less exciting 
motive might have failed to produce. We are met with 
a notice, on entering, that we are not to converse during 
service ; and it is a caution that might well be put up 
in the Protestant as well as Catholic places of worship. 
Five naves are divided with massive pillars ; the pavement 
is marble, and very beautiful ; the interior 425 feet long 
and 250 feet wide, with chapels on the sides, on which 
private wealth has been lavished with a profusion that 
seems absolutely incredible ; one of them was built by an 
archbishop, whose wealth was so great that he imitated 
the royal manner of living, and preferred to be like his 
Master a king, rather than like his Master a servant. 

Charles V. called upon the artists of the world to come 
and embellish this house, and to assist him in building the 
sepulchres of his father and mother, and the kings .of 
Spain. The chapel royal is the rnost impressive mauso- 
leum in the whole kingdom ; for here, in full view, are the 
tombs, and upon them the images, in marble, of Ferdinand 
and Isabella, and beneath these monuments repose the ashes 
of those illustrious monarchs whose names are so indis- 
solubly linked with the history of our own distant land. 
By them lie the relics also of Philip and his wife, who 
was called Crazy Jane. There are no more elaborate 
sepulchral monuments than these. Four statues of learned 
divines and twelve apostles surround the royal tombs, as 
if keeping eternal guard over the inevitable dust. The 
statues of the royal dead are said to be good likenesses, 
and I hope they are, for these people had so much care 
and trouble in life, it is certainly pleasant to see them 
looking so quiet in their stone beds. Even Crazy Jane, 
the wife of Philip, is as calm and peaceful, in the effigy 
that lies at our feet, as if she never had been in the habit 
of carrying the corpse of her husband about with her from 



GRANADA. 1 63 

place to place, refusing to have it buried, and insisting on 
the pleasure of embracing it whenever she took a notion 
for so cold a comfort. 

Isabella, the fair patron of Columbus, desired to be 
brought here and buried ; and here she lies, one of the 
noblest women that ever sat upon a throne : a wonderful 
contrast with the late Isabella who came from Madrid to 
Granada, a few years ago, descended into the vaults, and 
caused mass to be performed for the souls of the departed ; 
which souls are quite as well off without any masses as 
hers will be with many. Her visit was made here in 1862, 
and Ferdinand and Isabella took possession of the city in 
1492, nearly four hundred years between the visits of the 
two Isabellas ; and there is as great contrast between 
thp characters of the two women as there is between 
the condition of the country under the reign of the one 
and the other. 

A very obliging priest led us from chapel to chapel, and 
pointed out to us the several distinguishing marks of 
antiquity and sacredness that make the cathedral a joy 
to the believer, and one of the most — in many respects 
the most — sacred in Spain. He was not unmindful of a 
trifling fee when we parted, and one cannot but be amused 
with the solemn gravity with which this office of guide to 
the hoHes is performed by the priests, who doubtless have 
the mixed motive of displaying the charms of their sacred 
places, and of getting the little money that grateful travel- 
lers leave in their hands. It is best to have their services, 
for they answer a hundred questions that without them 
would be unanswered, and their weary life seems to be 
lightened by the brief companionship of strangers. 

In the evening we set off from Granada by diligence, 
leaving the place in the same style that marked our 
entrance. A crowd gathered at the office to witness our 
departure. A woman at the window put down her money 



164 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

to buy a ticket to take a seat with us. Before she had 
received the ticket, a couple of officers of justice rushed in 
and seized her. They stripped off her bonnet and her 
hixurious head of hair : they tore off her mantilla, and, 
shocking to relate, her loosely-flowing dress fell at her 
feet, in the midst of the derisive shouts of an admir- 
ing multitude ; and, thus stripped, she remained a well- 
dressed man I He had helped himself freely to the money 
in the shop where he was employed, got together all he 
could borrow and steal of others, and, in the disguise of a 
woman, was about to abscond to parts unknown ! Probably 
he was going to that happy land far, far away, which is 
still believed by them to be the paradise of thieves. His 
career was suddenly arrested. The crowd followed hoot- 
ing at his heels as the officers led him off to prison ; the 
horn of the postilion rang out its call on the evening air, 
the dozen horses and mules at last consented to pull 
together, and we plunged out of Granada. 



GENEVA. 165 



CHAPTER XV. 

GENEVA — FREYBURG — BERNE. 

"D Y a very circuitous route, over which I will not ask 
-^ you to follow me, I came to Switzerland, on my way 
to the north of Europe. 

When I was a boy of nine, I read in Csesar's Commen- 
taries, " Extremum oppidum Allobrogum, proximumque 
Helvetiorum finibus est Geneva," and rendered it into Eng- 
lish, " the farthest town of the Allobroges, and nearest to 
the frontiers of the Helvetii is Geneva." Out of the lake 
flows the river Rhone, with waters so blue that they seem 
to have been colored with indigo,. and Sir Humphrey Davy, 
who died here, attributed the deep color to the presence of 
iodine. The outlet of the lake is crossed by several bridges, 
and the city stands on both sides. The old wall on the 
left bank was originally built by the men of Julius Caesar, 
as is attested by coins and other remains of those days, to 
this day occasionally found. Its antiquity, its remarkable 
history, its past greatness, and its present beauty, the many 
eminent men who have here spent their lives, and more than 
all its situation on this lake, give the city of Geneva an 
attraction that no other place in Switzerland possesses. 

The cathedral here in Geneva is the venerable edifice 
in which John Calvin and his peers in the Reformation 
preached the doctrines that are now working their way into 
the minds of the entire Christian world, as the real basis 
for civil and religious liberty and progress. 

As we entered it, we trode upon the nearly worn-out epi- 
taphs in the stones of the floor, to the memory of Roman 



GENEVA. 167 

Catholic dignitaries who ruled here before the Reformation, 
for the edifice is more than five hundred years old. A 
chapel of the Virgin Mary, no longer needed for her wor- 
ship, holds the tomb of the Duke and Duchess of Rohan, 




/V^'Z^^;^^^^.- — 0^^ ^i>€.^/ /y ^t-x^ 



1638, and in another part of the church is the monument 
to the memory of Agrippa d'Aubigny. 

In the old library, just behind the cathedral, are many 
interesting manuscripts of Calvin, forty-four volumes of his 



1 68 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

sermons, twelve of letters written to him, his own letter to 
Lady Jane Grey while she was a prisoner in the Tower of 
London, and 394 other letters by his own hand. Besides 
these, there is nothing more than the severe simplicity and 
solidity of the edifice, with its remarkable history and asso- 
ciations, to make it interesting. 

It appears like a slow old town. But the names of good 
great men, and great bad men, are so identified with Geneva, 
that it is never spoken of without being associated with 
their works and influence. Calvin came here three hundred 
years ago and more, — the three hundredth anniversary of 
his death was commemorated a few years ago, — Rousseau 
was born here, Voltaire and Madame de Stael and Lord 
Byron have resided here ; and a long list could easily be 
made longer, of illustrious men, some of them flying from 
religious persecution, some from the reach of the sword of 
justice, some hiding from themselves, for it has been, and 
still is, an asylum for all, of every name, faith, and aim, 
who would be free to think and speak, while they yield 
wholesome obedience to the laws. I was quite surprised 
to-day when the excellent United States consul at this place 
showed me in one of the infidel Rousseau's works a note in 
which that brilliant writer speaks in the highest terms of 
John Calvin, not only as a theologian, but a statesman whose 
views, he says, will be always held in reverence. 

At the foot of the lake, and near the city, are many beau- 
tiful villas, with the water in front of them, the Jura moun- 
tains on the north to be seen by those on one side, and the 
mountains of Savoy on the south-east in full view from the 
other. Mont Blanc towers above them, " the monarch of 
mountains," his white head and shoulders seen above the 
dark ranges in front of him, like the bare form of a giant 
among the hills. Rev. Dr. Merle d'Aubigne, the historian 
of the Reformation, Sir Robert Peel, and other eminent 
men, have had their residences on the south-east side, and 



GENEVA. 169 

Baron Rothschild has a splendid palace on the opposite 
shore. Voltaire's house, and the residence of the Empress 
Josephine, are also there. The shores, as we go up the lake, 
are covered with vineyards, and every village that we pass 



^'t'<'.<t^0M^:I^-- '^..==r^ 




D'Aubigne's Birthplace and Residence. 

is marked with some features of historical interest. Madame 
de Stael formerly resided at Coppet, a little village where is 
a Roman tombstone with this inscription, " Vixi ut vivis : 
morieris ut sum mortuus : sic vita traditur, vale viator et 
abi in rem tuam." Ninon is an old town that boasts of 
Julius Caesar as its founder, and under its castle are those 
gloomy dungeons which are the terrible witnesses of the 
cruel customs of past ages. On the left shore as we ad- 
vance we notice a village on the extremity of a cape, which 
is called St. Protais ; this saint was the Bishop of Avenches, 
the Roman Aventicum, who died in 530, and was buried 
here, tradition says, because " his body did not seem inclined 
to go any further." And in 1400, nearly a thousand years 



I/O ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

after his burial, it was proposed to remove him to Lausanne, 
but he showed such signs of repugnance, that it was deemed 
improper to disturb him any more. Near this was once a 
town named Lisus, which was destroyed in 563 by a sudden 
rise of the lake occasioned by the fall into its waters of an 
entire mountain on the Savoy side. It was an important 
place, as the remains of vases, statuary, and mosaics attest 
to this day. As we reach the town of Morges the scenery 
of the lake has opened upon us with grandeur and beauty 
which is impossible to describe. The snow-clad summits 
of the Grand Muveran, the rocks of the Diablerets, and the 
tapering jagged peaks that are appropriately called teeth, 
and have their several names, which one is scarcely expected 
to remember, now rise in full view, and the excitement of 
the voyage is fairly begun. Away in the distance is Mont 
Combin, one of the stupendous Mont Rosa group, and there 
are the mountains of Abondance and the cragged peaks of 
Meillerie, while in the background, overlooking all, glows 
and blazes in the splendors of this summer sun the ever- 
lasting snow-crown of Mont Blanc. 

That square tower in Morges is the old donjon of Wuf- 
flens. It rises 170 feet, and towers above a group of turrets, 
all of brick. It was built in the tenth century by Bertha, 
whose memory is so sacred, the good queen of the Burgun- 
dians, who visited every part of her kingdom on horseback 
once a year, with a distaff in her hand, to set her subjects 
an example of industry. 

The most picturesque in its situation, and the most 
famous city on the lake, except Geneva, is Lausanne^ the 
capital of the canton of Vaud, built on three hills, along 
the slope of the Jorat, and dating back to the year 563. 
And then, oh wonderful to relate ! it became in 580 the see 
of a bishop, the prelate Marius bringing hither the relics of 
St. Anne, from whom the town is named, Laus AnncB^ and 
a part of the true cross, and some of the Virgin Mary's 



GENEVA. 



171 



hair, and, more than all, a rat^ — a veritable rat, which had 
devoured some of the bread after it was consecrated, and was 
thus converted into the body of our Lord ! These valuable 
possessions drew immense numbers of pilgrims, and raised 




Lausanne, and the Lake of Geneva. 



the celebrity of the place, which afterwards had a remark- 
able history, civil and religious. Its cathedral was conse- 
crated by the Pope himself. In 1479 the whole region was 
overrun with a species of beetles like locusts, devouring 
every green thing. The invaders were excommiLiiicated by 
the bishop, but the sentence had no effect ! Farel and 
Viret and Calvin, with other reformers, were here in con- 
vention in 1536. Here Gibbon finished his work, "The 
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," and the principal 
hotel bears his name, while the house he lived in and the 



1/2 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

terrace where he often walked, are pointed out as objects of 
interest to travellers. We rode through the quaint old 
place, and then continued our journey. 

But if we pause even to mention the places on the 
northern shore of the lake, and allude to the events that 
have made them classic, we shall not get over the ground 
or the water to-day. We have now reached the upper 
section of the lake, and the mountains round about it have 
been rising in sublimity and beauty as we advance. The 
water is a thousand feet deep. On the right hand the 
mountains rise precipitously from the water's edge, and 
on the left vineyards cover the sloping hills : sometimes 
walls sixty and eighty feet high have been built to support 
the soil, and on the terraces so formed luxurious vines are 
flourishing, and in the days of the old Romans a temple to 
Bacchus, the god of wine, was standing here, the ruins 
remaining to this day. The view from Vevey is regarded 
by many as the most delightful on the lake, and the situa- 
tion of the town is so picturesque and healthful, so cool in 
summer and so warm in winter, that it is sought for as a 
residence by strangers all the year round, and in this 
strangely ordered region, in sight of everlasting snows, the 
pomegranate and the rose-laurel and myrtle blossom in the 
open air, as in the south of France. And now we come to 
the upper end of the lake, and such an amphitheatre of 
mountains, rocks, and hills, sure no other lake in the wide 
world presents. The sun was low in the west as we ap- 
proached this eastern end, and a flood of golden light was 
poured in upon the bosom of the waters, and covered the 
stupendous battlements on either side with a living glory. 

Close down on the edge of the lake is the old Castle of 
Chillon, more than six hundred years of age, where the 
Dukes of Savoy ruled with terrible power. Down into its 
dungeons we were led, to one where on a flat rock the 
condemned prisoners spent the last nights of their lives ; 



GENEVA. 



173 



to another where, on a cross-beam still here, they were 
hung ; to the stone column, one of the supports of the 
castle, where for seven long years the Prior of St. Victor, 
Francis Bonnivard, for his heroic defence of the liberty of 




■"<5^ 



i:::^VXD^«^- 



Castle of Chillon. 



Geneva, was chained to a ring yet remaining in the pillar, 
the chain passing around his body, and allowing him space 
only to walk around it, year after year, or to lie down and 
sleep by its side. In this dungeon many of the reformers 
were imprisoned. 

In an upper room we found the chamber of torture, in 
which was a wooden column, to which prisoners were put 
to the question, chained, and tormented with fire, or drawn 
and stretched with rings and pulleys ; and in another room 
a trap-door is open, and a spiral stone staircase leads down- 
ward, — the prisoner, unconscious of what was before him, 
steps down three steps into the darkness, and the fourth is 
eighty feet below, where he is dashed to pieces on the 



174 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

rocks. Yet in this castle, and near to these horrid places, 
are the bed-chambers and parlors and dining-rooms of 
dukes and duchesses, men and women like ourselves, who 
could eat, drink, and be merry under the same roof with all 
this cruelty and misery. 

And this is at the head of the Lake of Geneva. Within 
ten minutes' walk is the Hotel Byron, one of the best 
places to stop at in all Europe. It is in the centre of a semi- 
circular sweep of beetling crags, and snow-peaked moun- 
tains, and wine-growing hill-sides ; it looks away down the 
lake, and not another house, not a sound disturbs its deep 
tranquillity, while nature, history, poetry, and art invite us 
to repose. 

Leaving Chillon in the morning by rail gave us a new 
idea of the way that Switzerland is now explored by tour- 
ists. When I was here, a dozen years ago, it was to be 
seen only by footing it through the passes, or riding on 
horseback, with now and then a lift in the diligence^ or 
antiquated stage-coach. Now railroads have been made to 
connect so many of the principal places and points of inter- 
est, that only the younger and more vigorous of travellers 
strike out into the mountain fastnesses, and toil over the 
hills where as yet no roads have been made. I inquired of 
the porter this morning how to get across from Martigny 
to the Vale of Chamouny. " You takes von leetel boss," 
he said, from which I knew that the ponies still do the 
work through that finest of all the day's rides in Switzer- 
land. There are hundreds of interesting tours yet to be 
made where no rail or coach will ever intrude, and no other 
locomotive, unless Professor Andrews makes his air-ship a 
success : in which case it would be admirably adapted to 
travel in this country. One of the last places in the world 
I should have thought practicable for a railroad is the border 
of this lake, and yet here it is entering the valley where the 
Rhone empties, and so extending to Martigny and to Sion. 




iiiiiiiiiiii 



it 



'N 



III" 

l||i|!iB!l 

■ ■■ 



Im^ 



ii 



iiiillii: 



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176 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

Penetrating secluded regions where frost has been king 
since the world began, the rail has made even the ever- 
lasting glaciers, these frozen cataracts, articles of merchan- 
dise. As the quarries in the mountains are worked by the art 
and spirit of man, so the icebergs that here grow from age to 
age, and scarcely seem to melt at all, are cut into blocks, 
and transported by the rail to Paris. The glacier of the 
Grindelwald is drank in brandy punches at the Grand Hotel 
and the Louvre. To get the ice, these mighty frozen seas 
are excavated in galleries and chambers, and magnificent 
saloons. The depths of snow on the surface exclude the 
sunbeams, but calcium lights shed a brilliant lustre, reflected 
as from a thousand mirrors of glass, and in small apart- 
ments fitted up for the purpose, the furniture of a well 
appointed parlor, sofas, chairs, and cushions, invite to cold 
but not inhospitable repose. When the Mer de Glace is 
taken by rail down into Italy, and thence by ship to the 
East Indies, ice will be reasonably cheap in Calcutta. And 
this will be more readily done than to tow an iceberg from 
the North Pole. 

As I said, we left Chillon in the morning, and retraced 
our course a part of the way by the railroad which passes 
on the hill-sides, away above the lake, through luxuriant 
vineyards, and over stupendous gorges, spanned by stone 
bridges, and arrived before noon at Lausanne. Here we 
struck out into the interior of Switzerland. And I was at 
once impressed with the great progress, even in this sta- 
tionary country, made in the last thirteen years. Then we 
traversed this wild and wonderful country mainly over 
paths that no wheel had ever marked, and sometimes by 
ways that only the footstep of the most cautious traveller 
might tread. Now, we take the coiip^, or front compart- 
ment of an elegantly fitted up rail-car. It has seats for 
four persons only, with rests for the head and the feet, and 
a table before you, and windows in front and sides, so that 



FREYBURG. I // 

you can see all that is around you, or write of what you 
see and feel. Before us are the peaks of untrodden hills, 
all covered deep in perpetual snows, the pink color on the 
white like the hues of roses, as the sun shines on but 
never melts them; here, on the right, I see the lake that 
yesterday we sailed through from end to end ; now it is 
smooth as a silver sea, and as beautiful ; reflecting majestic 
mountains, and cities and villages where wealth and art 
and letters and taste have for ages delighted to dwell. 
And on the other hand, and sometimes on both sides of 
us, we see Swiss valleys teeming with a busy, peaceful, 
happy people, whose homes suggest to me the thought 
of contentment, and therefore happiness. The old city of 
Romont we pass below, as it stands on a hill with an 
ancient wall and towers surrounding it ; good enough in 
those old times when bows and spears and stones were 
the weapons of war, but of no account in these times of 
Columbiads and Paixhan guns. At the foot of the hill on 
which it stands, the fields are laid off with walks and 
garnished with groves, showing that the people of these 
regions delight in those enjoyments that indicate culture 
and taste. 

The city of Freyburg, where we passed the night, is 
remarkable as being the seat of the chief power of Ro- 
manism in Switzerland. It has as many as ten convents 
and monasteries and high seminaries of learning. The 
suspension bridge is said to be the longest in the world, 
nine hundred feet : it is not so beautiful as the one at 
Niagara, but may be longer. 

The organ of Freyburg has been long celebrated as one 
of the best instruments in the world, and there is proba- 
bly but one superior to it. Yet the performances upon it 
are so unequal, varying with the skill or the humor of the 
organist, that very different reports are made of it by par- 
ties hearing it at different times. Perhaps it was my good 



1/8 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

fortune to hear it under circumstances the most favorable, 
Certainly the music was the most effective of any that I 
have ever heard, more so than any I expect to hear till the 
"nobler, sweeter strains" of the divine melodies break on 
the spirit's ear among the harmonies of heaven. 

The cathedral dates back to 1285. Over the front 
entrance is a queer old bas-relief, representing the last 
judgment. The Father, God himself, done in stone, sits 
aloft, with angels blowing trumpets around him. At his 
feet, on the right, the righteous are led off in triumph to 
their places in glory, and on the left a devil is weighing 
souls in a pair of scales ; another devil, with the head of 
a pig, is carrying a lot of poor sinners in a basket on his 
back, and is about to cast them into a great kettle where 
others are boiling, while little imps are blowing the fires 
with bellows, and hell itself, represented by the jaws of a 
monster, yawns near, and Satan sits on his throne above. 
We studied this strange device until the evening shades 
were too dense to permit us to see it, and then entered 
the portals. Darkness and silence reigned within. Two 
candles on the columns near the altar gave all the '^dim 
religious hght," that only served to deepen the gloomy 
grandeur of the venerable pile. A few persons had al- 
ready been admitted, and were conversing in whispers, 
invisible and scarcely audible in the distance. We sat as 
far away from the organ as we could, and where it was 
probable it could be heard to the best advantage. As the 
hour approached (it is played from half-past eight to half- 
past nine every evening), the strangers, who pause here 
on their travels, entered in little groups, and then a large 
crowd of gentlemen, who, as I learned the next day, were 
the teachers, professors, and other literary men of Switzer- 
land, came in together, filling every available place. They 
were in Freyburg in convention, and by invitation were 
now present to enjoy the musical feast. It may be that 



FREYBURG. 1/9 

owing to this unusual attendance o£ the learned and cul- 
tivated men of the country, we had the highest possible 
development of the powers of the instrument and the 
abilty of the organist. 

Something in the circumstances doubtless added to the 
dramatic effect of the exhibition. The cathedral seemed 
to be full of people, but a few only could be seen, and a 
sense of solemnity, devotion, awe, began to steal upon me 
as I sat waiting for the first notes of the organ, which was 
lighted only by a single candle, and that unseen, so that 
the instrument seemed away among the stars. Some of 
its pipes are thirty-two feet long. They are 7,800 in num- 
ber, with sixty-four stops. As I looked up expectant, I 
thought, "Oh, if it had only a soul!" And then, just 
then, a breath of melody, so soft, so sweet, so soul-like, 
came along on the still air, it might have been the first 
notes of the advent song of peace that fell like this by 
night over Bethlehem. This gentle stream of music rose 
and swelled into a river of melody that soon burst its 
banks and became a rushing torrent of sound, mighty in 
its power, almost awful in its expression. This was but 
the prelude. Then came, in successive anthems, songs 
and passages of master-pieces of the great composers ; 
some of them familiar, all of them exquisite in their ef- 
fect, to illustrate the wondrous faculties of this uninspired, 
untenanted mechanism, that was yet able to represent with 
such fidelity the deep and lofty, the softest and strongest 
emotions of the soul. 

Now, the imitation of the human voice was so perfect, 
it required an effort of the mind to believe that a living 
being was not rendering those plaintive strains in some dis- 
tant chamber of this vast hall ; and now, the ring of bells 
broke musically on the ear, and the far-away toll of some 
solemn church-bell added its voice to the harmony. The 
Alpine horn, the flute, and other instruments were so dis- 



l80 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

tinctly given, it was hard to comprehend the truth that, in 
the midst of one grand performance, on a single instru- 
ment, so many and so distinct and perfect imitations of 
others could be introduced. Perhaps nothing was more 
beautiful than the tinkling of water dropping into a foun- 
tain ; yet, when one effect had been enjoyed, as if the 
most complete, another soon^ succeeded, so delicate and 
so touching, that it seemed as if the last were more lovely 
than all which had been heard before. 

It is quite impossible to speak of the closing perform- 
ance without being suspected, by those who have not 
heard it, of exaggeration. And, indeed, so differently are 
we. constituted, that some will be charmed with a picture 
or statue, ravished with eloquence of oratory or music, 
and delighted with a landscape or waterfall, while others 
exposed to the same influences are as unmoved as the 
marble or the instrument. I know that I am not one of 
them, thanks to him who made us to differ ; and I know, 
too, that they who sat near me, when the last grand move- 
ment of this organ was made, are not of them. For when 
the strong wind began to shake the walls of the old cathe- 
dral, the rain to pour in torrents on the roof, the thunder 
rolling in terrific majesty, 

" Which, as the footsteps of the dreadful God, 
Marching upon the storm in vengeance seemed," 

we bowed our heads, with such a sense of awe and adora- 
tion, as could scarcely have been increased if the war of 
elements had indeed been bursting on us, and the voice of 
the Almighty had suddenly filled his temple. 

I will not describe the effect of this music : how it 
soothed, subdued, and melted the heart when its tenderest 
utterances fell like balm on a wounded spirit ; how it carried 
me away to other days, and far-away lands, and lifted me 
again to thoughts of heaven and the harmonies of the 



BERNE. l8l 

saints ; and so pure, so holy were the strains and the asso- 
ciations they brought with them, I wept that I had ever 
hved but in the hallowed atmosphere of the Good, the Un- 
seen, and Infinite ! Nor was this a transient sentiment, 
fading when the hour of such strange teaching was ended, 
and the gothic temple ceased to tremble with these majestic 
tones. It has followed me for days and nights among these 
stupendous mountain fastnesses, over ice-clad plains, where 
'' motionless torrents, silent cataracts," proclaim the power 
of him who " clothes them with rainbows," only less lustrous 
than the one around his throne. I hear the voice of God 
everywhere, in this sublime and awful land. But if these 
silent works of his are eloquent to speak his praise, how 
much more is such a voice as that organ, the great achieve- 
ment of a mind and hand that God made, endowed, and 
guided in their work. 

I have thought in years past that words are not essential 
to a train of thought : we think in words, always and only 
in words. But now I know that we need no words to make 
us feel, and words are not made that are capable of express- 
ing what we feel. As we sat in silence beneath the 
majestic harmonies of this surpassing instrument, even so 
it were better that I had made no attempt to portray with 
pen what is not in the compass of words to utter. It is to 
be heard and felt and enjoyed. 

Just beyond Freyburg, as we go to Berne, is the battle- 
field of Morat, which battle was fought four hundred years 
ago, but is famous to this day : for the bones of the slain were 
gathered into a heap, and some of them are still to be seen. 
It was formerly the custom for every Burgundian who 
passed to carry a bone home with him to bury in his own 
country, and Lord Byron said that he took away enough to 
make a quarter of a man. But they are mostly gone now, 
and an obelisk is set up to mark the field. 

By stopping over from one train to another you will see 



:82 



ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 



all that is worth seeing in the quaint old city of Berne, — the 
German for Bear, — the city of Bears, so called because it is 
built on the spot where its founder, Berchthold, of Zahrin- 




Cathedral and Platform at Berne. 



gen, slew a bear long time ago. -So the people keep three or 
four of them in a stone pit, at the public expense, for the 
idle and youthful to look at and feed and see them climb 
a tree. It is amusing to see a city worshipping bears. 



BERNE. 183 

Therefore go to see the bears, when you go to Berne. Do 
not fall over the parapet, for if you do, the bears will tear 
you to bits, as they did an unfortunate Englishman on the 
3d of March, 1861. If you happen to be at the old clock tower 
when it is striking the hour, you will see a curious proces- 
sion, which presents a very striking appearance ; and, indeed, 
every fountain and statue and mountain is deformed with 
ugly bears, till you cannot bear to see them. You will be 
quite willing to leave the city after walking through its 
principal streets, where the second story of the houses pro- 
jects over the sidewalks, making a covered promenade, and 
the shops are half-way in the street, and the market-women 
sit all along the way with their baskets of vegetables, and 
the chicken vendors are ready to cut off the heads of the 
fowls over a drain that carries off the blood, and so forth. 

Besides the hotels, the only notable edifice is the Federal 
Palace, a new and truly beautiful building. Here the 
National Diet, or Congress of Switzerland, meets annually 
in July. There are twenty-two cantons, or states, in the 
Swiss Confederation, and they are severally independent, 
but unite in this council for purposes of mutual protection 
and support. Each canton has a dialect, or patois, peculiar 
to itself, and sometimes unintelligible to its neighbors ; and 
the French, the German, and the Italian languages are so 
generally spoken in distinct cantons, that they are obliged 
to have an interpreter in Congress to redeliver a speech, or 
restate an argument in two other languages after a member 
has made it first in the only one that he understands. 
What a blessed thing it is that our congressmen under- 
stand, at least, each other's language, for if their speeches 
had to be repeated three times, when would the assembly 
ever break up ? 

The grandest sight in Berne is the range of Bernese 
Alps, and a grander spectacle, perhaps, the country itself 
cannot present. When that long, white, rifted, mountain- 



1 84 



ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 



boundary of the world stands up in its majesty, lighted as 
we saw it by a blazing noonday sun, it is sublime as well 
as beautiful. - 

It is only an hour by rail to Thun, and then we are on a 
lovely little lake ten miles long, with lofty mountains on 
each side of it ; so lovely indeed is this lake, that days after 




On the Lake of Thun. 



we had left it, when other views were spoken of, Thun 
always had its admiring advocates, who claimed for it the 
pre-eminence in beauty over all that we had seen. And 
so in this land of glorious natural scenery, where every 
valley is a subject for a picture, every mountain a study, 
and every lake a gem, it is easy to exhaust the words of 



BERNE. 185 

admiration, and then fail to convey any adequate idea of 
the constant succession of splendors that greet the travel- 
ler's never-wearied eye. 

Writing these last words, I look up, and before me is the 
Jungfrau, clothed in white raiment from crown to foot. 
The sky kisses her cold brow. As the mountains are round 
about Jerusalem, so are the everlasting hills about her now 
and ever. But no words can give to you, beyond the sea, 
the faintest conception of what one feels who exposes his 
soul to these visions of grandeur and beauty, and rejoices 
as he thinks " My Father made them all." 



1 86 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

THE BRUNIG PASS — LUCERNE. 

TF it were required of me to name the pleasantest day's 
ride thus far of this summer's tour in Switzerland, I 
should give the palm for beauty to the day that took me 
with two friends from Interlaken to Lucerne by way of 
Brienz and the Brunig Pass. 

Interlaken, as its name implies, is between the lakes 
Thun and Brienz. Thun is a beautiful gem of a sea ; Brienz 
is a little smaller, but fortified by formidable mountains and 
scarcely less lovely than her sister Thun. Our carriage- 
road, after leading us out from Interlaken, — that great 
English boarding establishment with a road running through 
it, and interesting only as a fiat valley in sight of the Jung- 
frau, and so full of people all summer long that you can 
find no sense of quiet or retirement, though the hotels are 
good, and the rides pleasant, and the mountain scenery 
sublime, — our road led us along on the western shore of 
Lake Brienz, and is cut into the hill-side so far up that all 
the way along we were able to survey the whole lake. I 
looked back to the Abendberg^ a mountain which I once 
climbed to visit the Institution for the Relief of Cretins, the 
idiots of Switzerland, which Dr. Guggenbulre established 
there. That remarkable philanthropist and physician, in 
whom and his labors I became intensely interested when 
here before, has since that tirae been removed by death, 
and no one being found to carry on his benevolent and 
self-denying work, it was suspended, and the building is 
now a hotel. 



THE BRUNIG PASS. 1 8/ 

On the east side of the lake some of the finest mountains 
in the country are to be seen, and the flat summit of the 
Faulhorn is even more inviting than the Rigi, which now is 
visited by scarcely more tourists. Cascades are leaping 
frequently from lofty heights into the abyss below, and we 
have scarcely exclaimed at the beauty of one before another 
rushes into sight. • By and by we come to one more impos- 
ing than all the rest ; at first we catch but a single fall ; as 
we advance it takes another plunge, and then another, and 
soon the whole reach and all the leaps of the Giesback are 
roaring and tumbling down the lofty precipices before us. 
I had been under it and around it, at its base, but had not 
before stood, as now, where its successive falls are all 
blended into one, and the white crystal flood pours more 
than a thousand feet, through the green fir-tree borders, 
into the lake. If you have a night to spare, when you come 
here, you may cross from Brienz and spend it at the Falls, 
which are illuminated with Bengal lights, producing a spec- 
tacle of enchanting and bewildering magnificence and 
beauty. But if you have not time, get some one who has 
just been there, and who knows that you have not been, to 
tell you about it, and you will get an idea from his descrip- 
tion that will quite surpass the original ! 

After passing the little village of Brienz, — where the 
Enghsh-speaking landlord of the Bear (Ours) will enter- 
tain you well if you give him a call, — we soon began the 
ascent of the Brunig mountain. It gives you at once some 
conception of the immense expenditure of money, time, and 
science of engineering required to construct these Swiss 
roads. As smooth as those of Central Park, and as solid, 
they are made to wind around and about so as to render the 
ascent gradual. Sometimes we seem to be returning on 
our track, but always singing Excelsior^ and yet so gradu- 
ally that the strain is not severe on the horses, and you feel 
no sense of danger as you are borne along without jolting 



1 88 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

or fatigue. And what a lovely vale is every moment in 
view at the foot of the mountain ! A rapid river sweeps 
through it, and by its side a white, smooth road : sweet 
Swiss homes in the midst of green farms dot the valley, 
that may well be the pride of the whole land. Now we are 
looking down into the Vale of Meyringen. For two or 
three hours we have seen in the distance a splendid cascade, 
and now that we have approached it, we find it the lower 
leap of the celebrated Reichenbach Falls, and into the valley 
so many are pouring constantly, that you are not surprised 
to learn the inhabitants have often suffered sadly from the 
swelling of these mountain torrents, which come down so 
rapidly and fearfully as to bear away every thing before 
them. A hundred years ago, almost the whole village of 
Meyringen was buried twenty feet deep in the sand and 
rocks and rubbish. A mark on one of the principal build- 
ings shows the height to which the waters rose in that 
memorable deluge. And as we are wound along up the 
Brunig, we enter the clouds and find the rain descending, 
so that we are obliged to shut the carriage up till we pass 
through the cloud, and emerge as we come down into a 
sunnier region. At the foot, the village of Lungern offers 
us dinner, and we rest. One of my friends had been suffer- 
ing all day with toothache, and had at last reached the 
reckless determination to have it out, if a dentist, or even a 
blacksmith, could be found in the place. I admired his 
courage more than his discretion, but probably had only a 
feeble sense of his suffering. The village doctor was sum- 
moned, a fine-looking, self-reliant, intelligent young man. 
The landlord stood with solemn face at the door of the 
room where the dread operation was to be performed. The 
landlady wrung her hands in sympathy. The head waiter 
held the sufferer's head. I held my peace. In a moment 
it was done ! And then the charge, it was one franc ! 
twenty cents ! ! Think of that, ye man tormentors, who, 



THE BRUNIG PASS. 1 89 

with forceps dire, tear a tooth by the roots from one's 
bleeding jaw and charge him two dollars, or five ! 

Lungern, where now lies the bone of one of my country- 
men, stands by a lake of the same name, which was once 
much larger than it is now. But the people, more in need 
of land than water, at the cost of $25,000 dug a tunnel 
under a hill that held the lake, put 1000 pounds of gun- 
powder at the end of the hole and touched it off. Away it 
went, and away went the lake, and the village itself was 
nearly whelmed too. Down went the lake 120 feet, 
leaving several hundred acres of ground which is now 
tilled. But not enough to pay for the work. God has 
given the seas and the lakes their bounds, and man is a 
poor tinker when he tries to blow the world up and make 
it over. I sympathize with the poet who rejoices that the 
sun and moon are swung out of reach, 

" Lest some reforming ass 
Should take them down and light the world with gas." 

The whole region beyond is historic, and the quaint 
villages we pass through have their several stories of 
battles, sieges, and victories. Every step of the way pre- 
sents a new picture of loveliness or sublimity. At last we 
are brought into sight and now are riding along the base of 
Mount Pilatus, his head as usual crowned with clouds and 
storm. The tradition is, — and you must believe in all the 
traditions of this country, or you lose half the interest of 
travel in it : even the life and exploits of William Tell are 
traditional rather than historic, yet who that lives here or 
travels here thinks William Tell a myth } If he does, he 
had better not tell anybody he doesn't believe in Tell, — the 
tradition is that Pontius Pilate, after condemning the Saviour, 
wandered over the world with a conscience goading him to 
death ; that finally he committed suicide on the top of this 
mountain, which is almost always, in consequence of this 



IQO 



ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 



awful event, begirt with tempests. And the popular beUef 
that these storms were of infernal origin was so prevalent, 
that for a long time it was forbidden by law to make the 
ascent. But the mountain is the first great barrier the 
clouds meet as they are marching southerly into the Alpine 
regions. There they break, and around the peak of Mount 
Pilate the thunder and lightning play with vengeance, 
when elsewhere it is " clear shining after the rain." The 
carriage-path is now along the shore of Lake Lucerne and 




PiLATUs, Lake of Lucerne. 

at the foot of the mountains, — ahead of us it seems as 
though we were coming to the sudden terminus of travel, 
but the narrow way opens as we advance, and we sweep 
securely under a frowning precipice, and over a solid rock 
for the bed of the road, and having made the circuit of the 
mountain we emerge upon a plain which lies between us 
and Lucerne. 

The sun was just sinking to rest as we were bringing to 



LUCERNE. 191 

a close our journey of ten hours, memorable for the pictur- 
esque views that were constantly before us, the four lakes 
that we had skirted in our ride, the uncounted waterfalls, 
majestic mountains, alternate rain and sunshine, and that 
pleasant friendly converse which an easy-going carriage 
permits and encourages, when, with tastes to enjoy the 
beautiful world that God has made, we sit all day under the 
open sky and admire, wonder, and adore. 

Lucerne is one of the most beautiful spots in Switzer- 
land. We have often laughed at the guide-books for call- 
ing each and every place, castle, river, waterfall, temple, or 
tower, the most beautiful, the oldest, largest, most romantic, 
or something quite as superlative. But we get into the 
same habit, and readers must make allowances for the 
enthusiasm of travellers. Take off as much as you please, 
and Lucerne is very lovely. 

It was my first Sabbath, on this journey, in a place 
almost wholly given up to Romanism. The population is 
about 13,000, and less than a thousand are Protestants. At 
nine o'clock in the morning, with two American friends, I 
went to the cathedral or church of St. Leger, and found it 
already crowded and a sermon in progress. The preacher 
was arrayed with so much magnificence that I supposed 
he must be some very distinguished personage in the 
church of Rome. The Papal Nuncio, or representative of 
the Pope of Rome, has his official residence in Lucerne, 
but I presume he does not officiate as a preacher. The 
audience filhng the seats and thronging the aisles were 
giving devout attention, each one on entering bending his 
knee and crossing himself. The women occupied one 
half, and the men the other, of the house. I could find no 
seat, but a young man in a pew rose, gave me his seat, and 
stood up himself, a politeness not common in any Protes- 
tant church in any part of the world to which my weary 
steps have been directed. The preaching was in German, 



192 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

and more unintelligible to me than if it had been in Greek 
or Latin, so that I was at liberty to study the surroundings. 
Over the altar was a statue of Christ crucified : the body 
made of wood painted to the life, and life-size, suspended 
so low that the face, with all its expression of intense 
agony, was perfectly visible. The blood had settled all 
below the knees and the lower part of the chest, and was 
trickling from the spikes through the hands and feet. The 
altar was richly adorned with gold, and candles were burn- 
ing on it. On either side of it were minor altars ; over one 
of them was an inscription in Latin recording the sacred 
relics there treasured. These are to be found in all the 
great churches on the continent, but have lost none of their 
hold on the reverence of these superstitious people. The 
toe-nail of the prophet Jeremiah would be the fortune of 
any relic-hunter who should light upon it. Over another 
altar, called Privileged, but why I did not learn, was a rep- 
resentation, in full life-size, of the descent from the cross. 
The weeping women had very sorrowful faces, and the 
wound in the Saviour s side was gaping fearfully, and the 
blood still oozing out. As I was looking at it, a lady 
elegantly dressed, leading two children, four or five years 
old, entered a side door, and approaching this altar knelt 
before it, and turning her face upward to these images of 
the Saviour's death, gazed long, and I suppose was praying. 
The sermon was still in progress, but she gave no heed to 
it. Perhaps, like myself, she was not able to understand it, 
and had come to worship, not to hear. When she had 
closed her protracted devotions, she took the little boy and 
girl and made them both kneel, where she had been kneel- 
ing, and look up as she had done, and when they had thus 
performed the service which she evidently prescribed, she 
led them out. Others cast themselves down before this 
and other altars, and with no attention to the service in 
progress, went on with their own prayers, and then left, or 



LUCERNE. 



193 



joined with the rest according to their pleasure. When the 
sermon was ended, long, and well delivered, in a persuasive, 
conversational tone, without notes, and with an evident air 
of earnest feeling, another priest, in gorgeous apparel, came 
to the high altar, and, attended by two or three boys to hold 
up his robes and move his missal-book from place to place, 
as he had to change his position, he proceeded to celebrate 
the mass. The officiating priest was an elderly man whose 
face indicated great intellectual force, and his appearance 
was that of a student and man of learning. As he took a 
golden chalice and laid his hands over it, and prayed, and 
then lifted it up while all the people bowed themselves with 
profound reverence, it filled me with amazement that such a 
man as he seemed to be could suppose that the wine in that 
cup had been miraculously and instantly converted into the 
blood of the Son of God ! ! ! And when he held up in the 
same way a bit of bread in the shape of a wafer or thin 
cracker, two inches or so in diameter, and again all the 
people bent themselves in adoration, he himself, with up- 
lifted hands and downcast eyes and moving lips, appeared 
to regard the ceremony as an immediate exhibition of a 
present and new-born God. Then he took the cup again 
and drank it, and drank once more, turning it bottom 
upward over his face ; and when this was done he took a 
white napkin and dried the inside thoroughly, as if no drop 
of the sacred blood must , remain within, and the door of a 
golden casket or closet on the altar being opened, he placed 
it within, with the bread he had converted, and locked it 
safely there. While this ceremony was going on, a priest 
had emerged from behind the altar, and with a brush in 
hand went up and down among the people, sprinkling them 
with holy water. A splendid organ and a choir of singers 
took part in the service, which was in all its parts imposing 
to the senses, fitted to make a deep impression on the 
ignorant masses. 

13 



194 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

The cloisters that surround the church are filled with 
tombs and memorial paintings and inscriptions, and the 
windows on the south command charming views of the 
lake and mountains. 

From this service, which was rather to be called inter- 
esting than edifying, we went to the English church ser- 
vice. The Protestant Germans have a new and very 
pretty edifice, which they permit the English-speaking 
residents and travellers to enjoy for two services on the 
Sabbath. The sermon we heard was on the nature and 
blessed effects of prayer. It was evangelical and useful, 
some passages very touching and impressive. The prayers 
were read by a young American clergyman, and the audi- 
ence, which was quite large, filling the church, was proba- 
bly one-half American. 

I have never found a more romantic, more sublime, more 
classic and beautiful lake in the little part of the world I 
have seen, than the Vier-Wald-Statter See, the Four For- 
rest Cantons, or, as it is more often called, Lake Lucerne. 

You will come to Lucerne, to the Schweitzer Hof, the 
best hotel in Switzerland. From the wharf in front of it 
steamers go five times a day the whole length of the lake 
and return, making the excursion in five hours. 

It is the lake of William Tell. Unbelieving sceptics in- 
timate a doubt that such a man as Tell ever lived ; but the 
apothecary in whose house I am lodging now has his scales 
in the form of a cross-bow, with a gilt apple on the top, 
to represent the great exploit of the hero's life, and every 
house has its memento of the man without whom there is 
no Swiss history. You might as well tell me that George 
Washington is a myth, and that he never hacked his 
father's cherry-tree with a hatchet. I have a piece of the 
tree, and know it to be true. And every Swiss patriot 
knows that William Tell shot the apple off his son's head, 
and the monster cruelty of the order that made him do it 



LUCERNE. 



195 



roused the fires of indignant resistance to tyranny, and 
resulted in the independence of the country. It is neces- 
sary to beheve this, to enjoy the scenes made sacred by 
the story. 

You will leave the city of Lucerne, having seen the lion 
cut in a solid rock as a monument to some Swiss soldiers 




Monument to the Swiss Guard. {By Thorvaldsen-) 

who were killed in Paris fighting for pay in 1792, and hav- 
ing also walked through the covered bridge that is distin- 
guished, but not adorned, with a series of paintings by 
Holbein, representing the Dance of Death ; and after the 
boat has gone from the landing about fifteen minutes, you 
must look back on the crescent city rising from the water's 
edge, flanked by the ancient wall on which the useless 
towers still stand ; and on the spires of the cathedral whose 
organ claims equal honor with that of Freyburg ; and the 
old tower in the centre of the river which was once a liEht- 



196 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

house, Lucerna, whence the name of the town ; and on the 
green hills, behind and on either side of the city, elegant 
residences of opulent citizens, and of some who from Paris 
and more distant parts come here to enjoy the summer in 
a dehcious and healthful clime. Naples is grander, but 
hardly more beautiful, as she lies around her lovely bay, 
with Vesuvius, like the Rigi, keeping watch over her 
Italian charms. 

For an hour or two out we are in the midst of the same 
bold and striking scenery which is common to all the Swiss 
lakes, with nothing of special interest except the historic 
associations that cluster about the little villages at the foot 
of the hills on the shores. We would be slow to believe 
that a population even of a few hundreds could hold on 
upon the sides of the mountains, or find the means of sup- 
port among those green meadows, where lies the little 
village of Gersau, and there are only about 1,500 people in 
it. Yet so tenacious are these Swiss of independence, that 
this Httle, secluded, poor, portionless community, not more 
than two miles square, maintained its existence as a sep- 
arate state for more than four centuries, and was then 
swallowed up by the French in the devouring fires of 1789. 
It is now part of one of the Swiss cantons. We cross the 
lake again and come to Brunnen, where the figures of the 
three historic patriots of Switzerland stand with each a 
hand held up to heaven, on the outside of the Sustenhaus, 
on the bank of the water. But when we leave Brunnen, 
and through a narrow pass enter the Bay of Uri, the gran- 
deur of the view breaks instantly upon us with such a 
power as to set at defiance the attempt at description unless 
one has a bolder pen than mine. Philosophers have tried 
it. Poets have done what they could to illustrate and repeat 
it. So prudent, and yet so capable a writer as Sir James 
Mackintosh says it makes " an impression which it would 
be foolish to attempt to convey by words." I will there- 



I 



LUCERNE. 197 

fore not be foolish. Yet you may look with my eyes upon 
precipitous mountains starting from the bosom of the lake 
and pointing with silent and solemn majesty into the sky: 
here and there as we pass are verdant meadows, few and 
far between, but beautiful- as they nestle at the feet or on 
the breasts of these gigantic cliffs, not a human habitation, 
sometimes for miles, to be seen, but all still, serene, and 
impressive in its solitude, and awful in its manifestation of 
the stupendous works of God. 

A sharp rock rises perpendicularly from the water on the 
western shore, and some foolish people have put a gilt let- 
ter inscription on it : as if the words were of use to perpet- 
uate the histories of these shores. We come to a low 
pasture, a narrow ledge, the most hallowed spot in Switzer- 
land, for here the three great patriots whose portraits we 
saw at Brunnen, — Furst, Stauffacher, and Melchthal, — 
were wont to meet to concert their plans. And here at 
midnight, Nov. 7, 1307, they, with thirty trusty men whom 
they had chosen, took the oath that bound them in a sol- 
emn league to break the hated yoke of Austria, or die. 
They fought and conquered, and they perished too, but 
their names and deeds live, in revolving centuries, and pil- 
grims from lands that were then unknown now come and 
look with reverence upon the spot thus consecrated, for the 
lands of Tell and of Washington are lands of liberty, and 
the sons of each are brothers. 

And across the See, a few miles on, is the chapel of Wil- 
liam Tell. It marks the spot where the hero jumped from 
the boat to the rock and bounded away into the woods, 
when the tyrant Gessler was carrying him to prison. A 
storm had overtaken them : the tyrant, a coward of course, 
was afraid, and, as Tell was an expert in the boat, he ordered 
him to be unbound, that he might manage the little bark. 
Tell steered her close to the rock, and leaped ashore, and 
was gone. A little chapel, open en the lake front, is erected 



1 98 



ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 



here, preser/ed with pious care, adorned with art and taste, 
and once a year a long procession of Swiss, in boats, ap- 
proach the sacred place and listen to a discourse in honor 
of their sainted hero. 




Tell's Chapel, Lake of Lucerne. 

Adown the sides of these majestic mountains frequent 
cascades leap and hang and play, and not far from the 
chapel two fountains spring directly out of the mountain 
side and pour two copious streams into the lake below. 
They are said to flow from a lake in the valley on the other 
side of the mountain ; but whether this is true or not, it is 
an illustration of the way in which the veins of water run 



LUCERNE. 199 

along beneath the earth, rising even on the sides and sum- 
mits of the hills, and springing to the surface when reached 
by art, or, as in this case, discharging by a natural outlet. 
The earth has its mysteries yet unsolved. Some of these 
bare mountain rocks are laid in convoluted strata, a few feet 
only in thickness, but wrapped over and over, as if they 
were a heap of great sheets once, easily thrown into these 
forms. It is easy to say that they are of volcanic origin, 
and that these hills were once flowing down in presence of 
the Lord. But this explains nothing. The philosopher is 
no wiser than the poet. And neither sees any farther into 
the bowels of these mountains than the Christian pilgrim 
who sits with me on the boat, and, as he sees the water 
gushing out of the rock as if smitten by the rod of Moses, 
he says : " Who hath divided a watercourse for the over- 
flowing of the waters ? Out of whose bosom came the ice } 
There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vul- 
ture's eye hath not seen." And this is the way the waters 
go, through chambers cut in the rocks by Infinite skill, that 
they may flow just where they are wanted to bless or beau- 
tify the world. 

Reaching the end of the lake at Fluellen, we enter at 
once upon the highway over the St. Gothard into Italy. 
Two miles on is Altorf, where William Tell shot the apple 
on the head of his son. And still farther on is the place 
where he finally lost his life, drowned while seeking to save 
the life of a child. The road beyond is one of the grandest 
and most historic of the Swiss passes, but I am not going 
that way now, as Capt. Lott said. What did /le say ^ Why, 
this, — a passenger asked him why the ship was going so 
slow : the captain told him the fog was too thick to make 
much headway. "But," said the passenger looking up, 
*' it's clear enough overhead." " Yes," replied the Captain, 
" but we're not going that way just now." 



200 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

THE BLACK VIRGIN OF EINSIEDELN — LIFE IN SWITZER- 
LAND, &c. 

1\ /TORE than a thousand years ago, a holy hermit, by the 
-^^-^ name of Meinrad, of royal blood, sought the wilds of 
Finsterswald, and here (for I am now on the spot) lived 
in a hut, and spent his days in prayer, with a little black 
image of the Virgin and Child which had been given him by 
the Abbess of Zurich. But his piety and the Holy Virgin 
did not shield him from the violence of wicked men. He 
was murdered in his hut by two robbers, who would never 
have been caught but for the interposition of the Virgin, 
who sent two ravens after them. These birds followed 
them to Zurich, and there hunted them till their guilt was 
detected, and they were put to death. 

The odor of Meinrad' s sanctity spread far and wide, and 
the Benedictine monks came and established a community, 
built a monastery and a church, and have flourished on this 
spot ever since. So long ago as 948 the Bishop of Con- 
stance came here to consecrate the newly erected church, 
and in the night before the ceremony was to be performed 
he was awakened by the music of angels filling the place, 
and a voice from heaven came to him, saying that he need 
not proceed with his holy services, for in the night the 
house had been sanctified by the coming of the Saviour 
in his own proper person. This was reported to the Pope, 
who pronounced it a genuine miracle ; and in obedience to 
his decree a plenary indulgence is granted to all pilgrims 
who come here, and on the church is inscribed, " Here is 



I 



BLACK VIRGIN OF EINSIEDELN. 20I 

full remission from the guilt and punishment of sins." 
During all these thousand years that have since revolved, 
this spot has been the shrine to which not less than 200,000 
human beings each year, with heads and hands and feet 
like other people, have journeyed, to bring their offerings, 
and worship a black image of the Virgin Mary holding a 
black baby in her arms. Why the image is painted jet 
black I cannot learn. So great is the concourse of pil- 
grims here, and so large are their offerings, that this monas- 
tery, in a bleak Alpine vale, 3000 feet above the sea, and 
off from all highways, has become one of the richest in the 
world. One in Styria, one in Spain, and a third in Italy, 
are, perhaps, more numerously visited. But the annual 
revenue of this is immense. The abbot has his banking 
house in Zurich, where he deposits the funds, and the in- 
vestments are constantly increasing. They are buying 
lands largely in the United States of America, especially in 
Indiana, and the order of Benedictines at Vincennes is in 
constant correspondence with Einsiedeln. 

Hither have I just raade a pilgrimage, not on foot, as 
many do. An old woman of seventy-five, carrying her 
shoes in her hand and toiling up with bare, sore feet, said 
the priest had bade her travel so to Einsiedeln, and her 
sins would be pardoned. But I came by the steamboat 
from Zurich to Ricksterwyl, and was then brought up the 
hill in a nice covered carriage, a much pleasanter way of 
doing a pilgrimage than walking barefoot, or even yv^ith 
peas in your shoes. It is a two hours' ride from the lake, 
the ascending road being alive with travellers going and 
coming, and public-houses to entertain the pilgrims invite 
you to rest. The village itself consists of a multitude of 
taverns and shops for the sale of images, crosses, medals, 
&c. Passing through it, we come to a large paved square. 
On one side of it, and at the foot of a hill which rises be- 
hind it, stand the sacred edifices : a vast temple, with the 



202 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

monastic buildings on each side of it, imposing in their 
appearance among these wilds of nature, where it seems 
almost a miracle that they can ever have been reared and 
enjoyed by man. The church itself is adorned with extrav- 
agant pictures and marble chapels and shrines, and just at 
the entrance stands the image of " Our Lady of the Her- 
mits," the only black image of the Virgin I ever saw. She 
and the Holy Child wear crowns of gold, and glitter with 
diamonds and embroidered garments, their faces of ebony 
shining in the blaze of jewelry and tinsel finery. Before 
them, worshippers are always kneeling, counting their 
beads. At the other shrines others are bowing and mur- 
muring their prayers. Painted skeletons of celebrated saints 
lie exposed in marble shrines. The offerings of those who 
have had their prayers answered hang around on the walls. 
All sorts of prayers are here made, and they who make them 
believe they are answered. 

In the square in front of the church is a fountain with a 
dozen jets of water, and each pilgrim drinks from each one 
of them, to be certain that he drinks of the one out of 
which the Saviour refreshed himself nine hundred years 
ago! 

The monastery is freely opened to strangers. Through 
long halls, on each side of which are guest-chambers where 
their many visitors are lodged, we were led to a gallery, 
adorned with several splendid paintings, presented by 
CathoUc monarchs : Louis Napoleon and his Empress, the- 
Austrian Emperor, and several historical pictures. Out of 
this we walked into the reception-room, where the abbot 
himself was so condescending as to meet us. He speaks 
only German and Latin. A very large man, of command- 
ing form and presence ; with a face shining like the sun 
with good humor, good living, and content, he answered 
perfectly to your idea of the abbot of a Romish monastery. 
He gave me a cordial greeting, and understanding that I 



BLACK VIRGIN OF EINSIEDELN. 203 

was from America asked if we enjoyed universal peace. 
When I assured him we did, he spoke of the late contest in 
Europe, which he pronounced " bellum atrocissimum," — a 
most atrocious war. Then he inquired about the President, 
and produced from his private rooms a photograph of the 
late Lincoln in the arms of Washington in heaven ! 

After a little further general conversation he withdrew. 
He is by virtue of his office a prince of the Austrian 
empire, and is so addressed by all the Roman Catholic 
cantons of Switzerland. I was highly pleased with the 
interview, and not less with one of the monks to whose kind 
care I was now committed. He led me to the interior of 
the monastery, where the cells of the monks are arranged 
on the several stories or floors : each one is a comfortable 
room, with one window looking into the walled garden and 
the hill that rises behind. When we reached his own he 
unlocked it and showed me in ; placing its only chair, he 
bade me be seated, while he went to look for the key of the 
library. " While I am absent," said he, " enjoy yourself as 
you please, examine every thing, and be quite at home." A 
few books were in a case over his writing-desk, by which he 
could sit or stand and the closets, shelves, every thing was 
bare of paint, and plain as could be. A little bed was in 
one corner near the door, simple enough for an anchorite. 
No images, pictures, or crucifixes were in sight. In a few 
minutes he returned, and led me through the cabinet of 
natural history, into the library of 30,000 volumes, neatly 
arranged in niches. When we came to the folios of the 
fathers, I pointed to the works of Iren^us, and said: I 
have the name of that father, my own father having 
given it to me because he admired the writings of the old 
author, the disciple of Polycarp, who sat at the feet of 
the apostle John ; I was thus in the line of the succession. 
We took down the folio and looked at its imprint. Then 
he asked me if I would like to see the manuscripts, and 



204 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

upon my expressing a strong desire to do so, he raised an 
iron trap-door, and conducted me by a flight of stairs into a 
room below, where an immense number are deposited, and 
admirably preserved and disposed. None of them, how- 
ever, are very ancient. 

A college of two hundred students is maintained in the 
same range of buildings, and taught by some of the monks. 
Of these monks there are about forty, besides the priests 
who minister at the altars, and receive confessions in Ger- 
man, French, Italian, and Romanesch languages, according 
to the nationality of the pilgrims. The monks spend their 
time in reading, writing, and in the refectory, where they 
eat together, and enjoy the good things of this life as well 
as other people. Some of them are quite old. Death 
comes here as elsewhere, and closes up a life of apparent 
indolence, yet possessing some strange fascination that is 
hard to be comprehended by the outside world. It cer- 
tainly is not favorable to the highest usefulness, for these 
men might be doing far more for God and their fellow-men 
in the pursuit of some honest calling, preaching the gospel, 
or working with their hands. They consume and do not 
produce. Nor is this mode of life friendly to holiness. 
Passions are part of man's nature, and they are not 
quenched or dwarfed by seclusion from intercourse with 
the outer world. Human sympathies, which are cultivated 
and refined by the practice of social virtues, and so tend to 
make us better, are not apt to flourish in the cell of a 
monk. And although the walls of this magnificent monas- 
tery, in a sterile Alpine valley, shut out the pomps and 
vanities of the world, they cannot be made so high or so 
strong as to confine the wandering desire, which will sap 
the foundations of the sternest virtue, and make the bosom 
the seat of vice to which the soul consents, and therefore 
suffers. The pure in heart see God. Not in the cloister of 
the anchorite, the monk's lonely cell, nor the hermit's 



LIFE IN SWITZERLAND. 205 

cave ; but in the steadfast pursuit of the Good, the True, 
and the Great, in the daily walks of life. It is virtue to live 
above the world, while living in it. None but the children 
of the Holy One can walk through the furnace without the 
smell of fire on their garments. 

Such were my thoughts as I left the monastery, shaking 
hands with Father Reifle, the Benedictine, who had so 
kindly waited upon me, and by his intelligent conversation 
and lively interest in my enjoyment had won my warm 
regards. He put the key into the lock of the iron gate at 
the head of the stone stairs, and unlocking it let me out, 
and we bade each other Adieu, as he stood within and I 
without the door. 

Returning to Zurich, and going thence to St. Gall, I 
mounted a diligence, and rode an hour and a half into the hill 
country, up hill all the way, to a place unheard-of in the 
guide-books, and unvisited by travellers, unless business or 
the search for solitude should call them there. It is at 
least a thousand feet above the lake, of which a distant view 
is had, and in the midst of beautiful high valleys, green past- 
ures, and thrifty villages, three or four of which are in sight, 
each with its single church spire or tower. Not a boarding- 
house was to be found in the place. There is a hotel, but 
hotels had been my dwelling-place long enough, and now I 
would have a home, and such a home as the people around 
me enjoy. In a private family, the village apothecary's, I 
learned that, perhaps, a room could be had, and thither I 
bent my steps. Happily for me, they were willing to take 
me in, and in a short time the apartments were ready and I 
was duly installed. 

My quarters are a parlor and bedroom, on the front of 
the house, first floor, up stairs over the shop. The floor is 
uncarpeted, made of various Swiss woods laid in mosaic, in 
diamond shapes, of three different colors. A large, earthen, 
polished, white, monument-like thing, gilt at the corniced 



206 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

summit, stands on one side, and I soon learn that it is a 
stove, the door of which is out in the hall, where the fire is 
kindled, and now in the middle of August a fire is needed 
all the time. On the corners of this ornamental as well as 
useful pile stand two Parian busts, one of Goethe and the 
other of Schiller. An engraving of Schiller reading one of 
his poems to his friends hangs on the wall, and a portrait of 
Columbus, and another of Luther and other celebrities are 
around me. The windows extend without interruption over 
the entire length of the room, and a row of flowers in pots 
are' on the sill outside, and embroidered curtains within. 
The shutters are closed by raising them with a strap, as the 
windows of • a rail-car. A sofa, an easy chair covered with 
leather, three tables, a divan, and a chair or two, with rugs 
lying around, and little gems of art with books scattered 
about, complete the furniture of this perfectly comfortable 
and delightful room. The walls and ceiling are all panel- 
work in wood, painted white, and as purely white as the 
Alpine snows. In the bedroom, the floor, the wall, and 
ceiling are as in the parlor, only the color is a light salmon, 
very chaste and clean. The bed has a down comforter on 
the top of it, and two pillows, with double cases, the inner 
of figured green silk, showing at the open embroidered end 
of the outer linen. It is almost too pretty to sleep in, in 
the dark. Over the head of the bed is a beautiful engraving 
of Uhland's " Landlord's Daughter." On the stand at the 
bedside is a little basket of confectionery, a porcelain trans- 
parency of the Saviour standing among the clouds and 
pointing heavenward; a china night-lamp burning with a 
bowl of water over it, kept hot by the lamp ; and every little 
nick-nack that delicate taste and an appreciating sense of 
what comfort is would be likely to suggest. 

I am asked, before retiring, at what hour I will breakfast, 
and I reply, " When the family do ; and let every thing be as 
you are in the habit of having it." 



LIFE IN SWITZERLAND. 20/ 

- The times of eating and the food were not to my taste 
the first day. It took me a little while to get adjusted to 
the change. But in every country I would live as the well- 
to-do people of the country live. And here I soon learned 
that the number of meals and the hours of eating were 
regulated by the climate, which is so bracing as to indicate 
frequent eating and substantial diet. I am writing this at 
ten o'clock at night, and I will give you the journal of the 
day. 

Breakfast at /i a.m., consisting of coffee, bread and butter, 
with honey and cold meat. 

Dinner at 12, noon, soup, fish, boiled beef, beef a la 
mode, vegetables, salads, cucumbers, apricots, pears, plums, 
apples, preserves, pastry, &c. 

Lunch at 4 p.m., coffee, bread and butter and honey. 
Everybody takes this meal as well as the others. They 
come in from the fields and the shops to their coffee 
at 4. 

Supper at 8 p.m. I am almost ashamed to say that at 
8 this meal was served in my parlor, for me only: soup 
and a roast chicken, which disappeared, leaving scarce a 
wreck behind. And I forgot to say that at six o'clock I 
took tea out with a private family in the village, where the 
table was spread with the richest cream, butter, straw- 
berries, currants, bread, and honey, — all but the tea being 
the fruit of the gentleman's own grounds. And at my 
table there were presented several dishes not enumerated 
above, the names of which were worse than Greek, and 
the compound of a color and odor that did not enlist my 
sympathies. However, I try a Httle of every thing, and 
eat all the time. I understand there is a doctor in the 
village, whose fame extends to distant cities, and ere the 
week is out I may have to test his skill. 



208 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 



IN THE HOTELS AND ON THE ROAD. 

It is one thing to travel in a country, stopping only at the 
great hotels, and quite another to get off the highways, 
among the people, and live as they live. At the hotels, the 
aim is to give you the kind and quality of food you are ac- 
customed to in your own land, to put you into a good bed, 
and charge you just as much as you will pay. It is my way, 
when I can, to get out of the beaten paths of travel, and 
mingle, if possible, with the natives of the country, and 
those, too, who are not in the habit of entertaining stran- 
gers, and soon learning that they are fair game to be plucked 
as long as they have any feathers. 

More than half the guests in the Swiss hotels are Amer- 
icans. The English complain — John is generally grum- 
bling — that the Americans get the best rooms at the 
hotels, and that travelling on the continent is not half so 
agreeable. It was my misfortune to travel last week in the 
same compartment of the rail-car with an English clergy- 
man and his wife [and, by the way, she called him Jmbby^ 
for husband, whenever she spoke to him, — an appellation 
for the head of the house that was new to me, and not very 
agreeable]. He said he would write a letter to the Times, — 
that is an Englishman's universal refuge when he thinks 
himself imposed upon in travel. " I sh^ll write to the Times 
about this country, and I sh^ll say that the cookin' is exceed- 
in'ly mean, the scenery very dull, and the travellin' decid- 
edly uncomfortable." But he was as near being a fool as a 
man could well be, and be at large. His tongue ran inces- 
santly, and he talked so loud that no other conversation 
could be had, and everybody must listen to his twaddle and 
complaints. " The 'ills were too 'igh " for him to think of 
climbin' any of them, and not " 'igh " enough to interest him 
in lookin' at them ; and on the whole he thought Switzer- 
land a failure. 



LIFE IN SWITZERLAND. 2O9 

It is curious to observe how soon Americans are known 
to be such, anywhere in Europe. In England, a hotel waiter 
or a porter at a lodge or castle would know you to be an 
American, certainly the moment you spoke, and perhaps 
before. A woman said to me when I had said that I was 
an American, '' You don't speak like one." When I pressed 
for an answer to the question, "What is the difference 
between my speech and others," she replied, after much 
hesitation, "Why, I thought all your countrymen talked 
through the nose." 

That educated Americans, and all of them accustomed to 
good society at home, speak the English language with as 
much propriety and purity as the most cultivated Enghsh- 
men, is certainly true, and it may safely be added that the 
masses of the people in America, born to the manner, speak 
it far better. Small as England is, the dialects of the prov- 
inces are so diverse, that one is often .sorely puzzled to 
understand a commonplace remark or inquiry. It was very 
amusing, too, to perceive that many slang phrases, or tech- 
nical terms, that we had supposed to be of local origin and 
use in the United States, were as common in England as 
with us at home. " You'll 'ave lots of time," says the coach- 
man. " I'll pop out your luggage," when he would tell us 
that it would be done instantly, said the conductor. 

But the language is not more marked by its peculiarities 
than the manners. There are all sorts of people in every land. 
Some of each variety go abroad, so that we must expect to 
meet them, and it is very absurd to judge of a country by 
the few specimens you meet on the road. But while I am 
heartily ashamed of some of my own countrymen who are 
abroad, and make themselves ridiculous by an extravagance 
of independence that amounts to a contempt of every thing 
and everybody except themselves and their country, still I 
think that, as a whole, they are the best behaved people 
abroad. At the Baur du Lac Hotel, Zurich, day before 



210 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

yesterday, at breakfast, a German lady took her seat at the 
head of a long table, rested both elbows upon it, and taking 
a roll of bread eight inches long, held it in both hands, and 
without taking it from her lips, or taking her elbows down, 
she ate the whole of it- from end to end. I sat next to her, 
on the corner, and saw it done. She then took another 
roll, a round one, and devoured that ; all this while waiting 
for her coffee. What more she ate, or how, I did not see, 
having turned away in disgust. It is not probable that any 
woman from America would go through such an exercise at 
home or abroad. 

Yesterday, in the rail-car in which I was riding, an Eng- 
lish gentleman and family entered the compartment in 
which I was seated, the only passenger. There were four 
seats, two on each side of a little table, on which we could 
lay books or papers. Overhead were racks and pegs for 
bags and bundles. He piled his, and his wife's, and his 
wife's sister's, on the top of the table, usurping the whole 
of it, and utterly ignoring the righ-t of anybody else to any 
of it. Jonathan would put a thing in its place, and be 
ashamed to interfere with the convenience of his neighbor. 
John Bull looks out for number one. This selfishness ex- 
tends to neglecting those little attentions to women, on 
which an American prides himself, and which makes it so 
easy for women in America to travel alone. 

On the French and Swiss railroads has been introduced 
an improvement that may be commended to our directors. 
In every train there is a car with one compartment, marked 
on the outside, " For women unattended." Into this carriage 
ladies who have no male escort enter, and are properly cared 
for by the conductor. They can travel in this way in seclu- 
sion and with entire safety ; but after all it is quite prob- 
able that the women in America would be quite as willing 
to take their chances with the men ; and, perhaps, the 
experiment, if tried, would be a failure. One thing the 



LIFE IN SWITZERLAND. 



211 



railway people might learn of us, and that is, to check the 
baggage. In place of it, here they give you a slip of paper 
with a number on it, and paste a corresponding slip on your 
trunk, which is some protection, but not so safe nor so 
convenient as our plan. In many respects the European 
railroad system is far, very far, superior to ours. Its safety 
is incomparably greater than ours. An accident is very 
rare. I have not heard of one since coming abroad. The 
connections are invariably made. The track is more solid 
and secure. The road is made for ages. There are grades 
of fare according to the accommodation. The first class is 
better than any of ours. The second is not equal to ours, 
and the third is inferior to the second. 




212 



ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 
CANTON APPENZELL— SWISS CUSTOMS. 




Peasants oi<- Eastern Switzerland. 



"VrOU have never been in Trogen. You have never heard 
of Trogen. You do not know where on the map to 
look for 'Trogen, and you probably would not find it, if you 
looked for Trogen. 



CANTON APPENZELL. 213 

Trogen is one of the little villages in Canton Appenzell, 
in Switzerland. It is reached by carriage from St. Gall, a 
large town on the railroad from Zurich to Constance. As 
soon as you leave the line of the rail, you begin to ascend, 
and it is all the way up, up, up, till you get here. We 
passed a convent about half the way up, inhabited by 
nuns, who were once expelled from St. Gall. They have 
now a rich establishment, very secluded, and perfectly im- 
penetrable in its interior mysteries. You can see the re- 
ception rooms and the chapel, and the grating that separates 
the nuns from you and all the world : that's all, — no, not 
quite all ; in the chapel they will show you a human skele- 
ton, decked with magnificent jewelry, enough to adorn a 
princess ; and this may teach you that the pomps and 
vanities of the world are wasted on one who is soon to be 
a bundle of bones. 

When you reach the summit of the hill, a scene of ex- 
traordinary grandeur and loveliness lies around and below 
you. As far as the eye reaches, it is a succession of 
green, cultured, and peopled hills, often crowned with 
villages, but mostly marked by scattered dwellings in the 
midst of beautiful farms, white roads winding around and 
over the hills, and in the distance, through an opening, lies 
the lake of Constance, a picture of silver in a fair setting of 
emerald. Trogen is the largest of the villages ; but there 
are three more in sight, Speicher, Wald, and Rechdobell, 
each with its single church tower ; for the people are 
all Protestants, and all Lutherans. In this village and 
Speicher, close by, there is not one Roman Catholic family, 
and I believe that is a very unusual fact in this country, 
v/here there are nearly as many of the one as the other, 
and they are mingled closely in many of the cantons. 

Here there is only one church, and that German. Ser- 
vice is held on Sunday at nine o'clock in the morning. 
The church is a well-built edifice of stone, about one hun- 



214 • ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

dred years old, with frescoed ceilings, representing the 
Ascension, Christ blessing the children, and other scenes 
not intelligible to me. The women sat by themselves and 
made three-fourths of the congregation. As each one 
came in, he or she stood in silent prayer, reverently bend- 
ing ; the women then sat down, the men remained standing. 
They stood patiently till the minister came in and opened 
the services, and they did not take their seats until the 
sermon was begun. On this occasion there was an un- 
usual number of children present, as in one of the large 
schools there had been during the week past the death 
of a scholar, and now all the pupils came in procession, 
and took their seats together. All the men, who were 
relatives of the deceased, wore black bombazine gowns, 
swinging loosely on their backs, a badge of mourning. The 
service opened with a voluntary hymn by the children in 
the gallery, well sung. Then the pastor read a psalm, 
which was sung by the entire congregation, — there was no 
organ. I should think every one in the house had a voice, 
and used it with the spirit and the understanding also. 
Prayers were then read by the pastor, all the people stand- 
ing. At the close, the minister announced his subject, and 
then the people — the men for the first time — sat down. 

He was a young man, clothed in a black gown, with a 
blue silk or woollen ruffle about his neck. He read his 
text, '' On earth peace, good-will toward men," and, shutting 
the book, delivered his discourse without notes, with great 
ease, fluency, animation, and much eloquence. His manner 
was good, and the attention of the congregation was kept 
closely fixed. His leading idea was that peace is to be 
found only by union with God through Jesus Christ. And 
he pursued this thought beyond the experience of the indi- 
vidual to the wants of the community and the nation, 
insisting with great earnestness that wars come from the 
want of Christian love, that good-will which Christ came 



CANTON APPENZELL. 21 ^ 

to bring, and he warned his people and the people of Swit- 
zerland, that now, as in ages past, their only hope for 
national unity and peace was in union with God, on whom 
alone they could depend. 

At the close of the sermon he read prayers again, the 
people all standing. Then he proclaimed the names of cer- 
tain parties intending marriage, and also he mentioned the 
names of any who had died during the past week. After a 
hymn had been sung, he descended from the pulpit. The 
people, still standing, bowed their heads reverently in silent 
prayer for a moment, and just then a man in the body of 
the church cried out an advertisement of an auction sale to 
take place in the neighborhood. The women now left the 
house, not a man sitting down, or moving from his place, 
till all the females, old and young, had reached the door. 
The minister next walked out, and the men followed. The 
service was over in one hour and a half. An hour-glass 
stood on the pulpit, but was not in use, as the large clock 
was in full sight, and the bell clanged every quarter of an 
hour, as it does day and night. 

It was a kind and beautiful providence that turned my 
weary footsteps to this remote and unfrequented canton of 
Switzerland. Harper's Hand-book, an invaluable guide for 
American travellers in Europe, has not even the name of 
the place in its index. Murray's Hand-book, which all the 
English go by, says " it is but Httle visited by Enghsh 
travellers." To get into it by any other than the easy road 
through the north-eastern passage, you must cross the high 
Alps and glaciers which bound it, and add as much to its 
picturesque beauty as they take from the comfort of travel- 
ling. But if you visit Constance, — where John Huss was 
tried and condemned and burnt at the stake, — it is easy 
to come to Appenzell. 

And speaking of Constance leads me to that memorable 
spot, on the border of the lake that for a week past has been 



2l6 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

always under my eye, a spot that deserves a monument, 
a beacon to warn the church of the guilt and shame of 
religious bigotry and intolerance. It is almost like a judg- 
ment that the city itself, which for four years harbored the 
ecclesiastical council that murdered John Huss and Jerome 
of Prague, has now but one-fifth of the population that once 
inhabited it. As I stood on the place where it is said the 
martyr's stake was planted, and remembered the glorious 
truths which he witnessed in the flames, I thought how 
little is the world improved even to this day, where the civil 
and ecclesiastical powers are still in the same hands. For 
as we travel in these European countries, the line that 
divides the Protestant from the Roman Catholic canton, or 
part of a canton, is just as clear as if a wall of adamant, 
high as the sky, were set up between. Even Murray's 
Guide-book, which does not pretend to any religious 
opinions, speaking of the two parts of Canton Appenzell, 
says : 

"A remarkable change greets the traveller on entering Roman 
Catholic Inner Rhoden, from Protestant Outer Rhoden. He ex- 
changes cleanliness and industry for filth and beggary. What may be 
the cause of this is not a subject suitable for discussion here." 

Yet the moral philosopher, the philanthropist, the patriot, 
above all the Christian, even a Christian traveller, wishes 
to consider " the cause," whether it is proper or not for a 
guide-book to discuss it. As travelling tends to promote 
liberality of sentiment, to enlarge one's charity, and to 
convince even a strict adherent to his hereditary faith, that 
many, far from his way of thinking, are just as sure of 
heaven as he is, so travelling opens one's eyes to the effect 
of the different systems of religion upon the social, tem- 
poral, political, as well as moral condition of men. And I 
have been amazed to find how powerful is this effect upon 
mere men of the world, men who have never given a 
thought before to the influence of one religion rather than 



SWISS CUSTOMS. 



217 



another on the face of society. Even the guide-books call 
attention to the shameful fact that "filth and beggary" are 
the distinguishing features of a part of one country that 
differs from the rest only in being Roman Catholic. The 
same laws, the same climate, the same facilities for acquir- 




Female Costumes in Appenzell. 



ing the means of living, and just as much soap and water 
in one as the other, but the thrift and the neatness of one 
are in brilliant contrast with the poverty and nastiness of 
its neighbor. 

The customs of the canton are somewhat peculiar. I 
was informed that they still adhere to the use of the pillory 
for the punishment of petty offences, and the machine 
stands by the wayside, with a hole for the neck, a padlock, 
and a chain. But I did not see any thing of the kind. Nor 
did I see the bone-house, in any churchyard, where it is 



2l8 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

said the bones are deposited of those who have been buried 
a certain number of years, and who must then give place to 
others. Their bones are taken up, properly labelled and 
laid away on shelves in the bone-house, so that their friends 
can get them, or any part of them, when wanted. As the 
graveyards are usually small, and no attention is paid to 
the relationship of the parties buried side by side, it is 
quite likely that, after the lapse of thirty or forty years, 
there would be no objection to this arrangement, which 
strikes us as exceedingly unpleasant, if not positively revolt- 
ing. 

Every evening at half -past eight o'clock the church bell 
is rung, and all the children must immediately go home. 
If they are abroad after that, they are taken into custody 
by the patrol of the streets, and either delivered to their 
parents, or, if frequent offenders, they are kept in durance 
overnight. This is an admirable regulation, which I com- 
mend to imitation in free America. It is adopted here in a 
pure democracy, and works admirably well. In the cities 
it would be a great moral life preserver, worth millions of 
dollars and as many souls, that would be saved by the plan. 

At eleven o'clock the watchman sings a set of phrases in 
a clear, loud voice, which often disturbs me as he shouts, 
just under my window, " Put out lights, cover up your fires, 
lock your doors, say your prayers, and go to bed." 

I learned here a bridal custom of this region, so sensible 
and proper, that I shall mention it for the benefit of the 
young folks. The custom of making gifts to the bride pre- 
vails here, as everywhere, but it is better regulated. The 
bride makes out a written list of things that she will require 
in beginning to keep house, especially those things that are 
over and above what would naturally be furnished by her 
parents. This list is taken by her friends, and one of them 
says, " I will give her this," and marks that as provided for ; 
another will give her that, and sometimes two or three or 



SWISS CUSTOMS. 219 

more will combine and furnish a more expensive present 
than any one would give alone. After the wedding, the 
couple usually start off on an excursion, and on their return 
they find their dwelling filled with these presents, each 
marked with the giver's name. 

These people are very fond of athletic sports and exercises, 
games that call forth prodigious strength, and make the 
inhabitants of this canton famous for their skill and power. 
Every holiday, and many a Sunday, is given up to wrest- 
ling and boxing. They are like the Scotch in hurling a 
heavy weight. They will throw a stone of 50 or 100 
pounds. A man some fifty years ago threw a stone ten 
feet that weighed 184 pounds. But their great sport is 
shooting for a prize. They are splendid shots. Shooting 
matches are held every year in the villages, and sometimes 
they are matches between the people of the whole canton, 
and again of the whole country. As we travel we see the 
targets standing at the foot of a hill, and buildings that are 
put up for the purpose of accommodating the companies that 
are formed for the encouragement of this national accom- 
pHshment. 

So ignorant was I of the forms of government existing 
in this part of the world, I did not know that six out of the 
twenty-two cantons, or states, of Switzerland are purely 
democratic in their government. It is true that this is 
modified, in a measure, by their confederation with the 
others, and that they have delegated to their general gov- 
ernment the power of declaring war, coining money, and 
regulating a system of mails. And, by the way, postage 
is cheap in Switzerland : five centimes, or one cent of our 
money, conveying a letter anywhere within the country, 
and, in all the villages and cities, delivering it at the 
residence of the receiver. These several cantons are, in 
other matters, independent of each other ; and, in times 
long past, have had fearfully bloody wars among them- 



220 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

selves. They are at peace now, but from father to son 
is handed down the story of the wars. 

This canton, containing a population of about 50,000, is 
a simple democracy, and as primitive and pure as ever 
could have existed in the earliest days of Greece or Rome, 
before an oligarchy or a monarchy was known. Here the 
people, all the males over eighteen years old, actually 
assemble, personally, and in one place, to choose the nec- 
essary officers, and to make their own laws. This popular 
meeting is held annually, in April, and on Sunday always. 

On that day there is no preaching in any church in the 
canton, except the one where the election is held. All 
the ministers come with the people. At the close of the 
morning service, the election is opened by prayer, and then 
the people proceed to the discharge of this serious duty, 
the act of their individual sovereignty. Every man wears 
a sword by his side, a token of his being a freeman ; for, 
centuries ago, when serfdom prevailed, only freemen could 
vote, and they wore swords. Now, all wear swords on 
election day, for all are free. 

The canton is not so large but that they can all come 
and return on the same day, and, for the most part, they 
come on foot. It is expected that they will all come. And 
where the power of voting is equally distributed in this 
way, and every man feels that he is an equal part of the 
government, there is little danger of any one's staying 
away who is physically able to come. They meet some- 
times in one place, and sometimes in another, but mostly 
in this village of Trogen, on the public square. Here a 
platform is erected, and the officers chosen last year con- 
duct the proceedings. The landeman, or chief, presides, and 
the clerk announces the name of any one nominated for 
public office. All in favor hold up their right hands. All op- 
posed then do the same. If there is any doubt, a count 
would be resorted to, but that is never necessary. Office 



SWISS CUSTOMS. 221 

is not sought with any great rapacity, and the people are 
not divided into parties fighting for the spoils. The 
several officers thus elected are charged with the execu- 
tion of the laws.. A council is appointed, which meets 
from time to time, in the state-house here, and consults 
in regard to the internal affairs of the canton. If any new 
legislation is necessary, they frame the law, put it into 
print, and a copy of it is then placed in every house in the 
entire canton. It is not yet a law ; it is thus distributed 
that the people, who are the law-makers, may examine it, 
talk it over among themselves, and make up their minds as to 
its expediency. If it is of importance sufficiently pressing 
to require immediate action, a meeting of the people may 
be held four weeks after the law has been proposed ; but 
generally this is avoided by having the measures submitted 
to the annual assembly in April. Then the law is sub- 
mitted to the mass meeting, and they vote for or against it, 
by the uplifted hand. As ample time has been given to 
the people to discuss the matter, there is no call for long 
speeches, nor would they be tolerated by an assembly that 
was bound to break up and get home the same night. And 
the laws thus adopted are put in force by the magistrates 
appointed by the popular vote, and often" at the same time 
that the laws themselves are adopted. 

Among the principal cares of such officers must be the 
construction and repairs of the highways. Oh that our 
American people would send a commissioner of their coun- 
try pathmasters over here ! Within the last four years two 
of these cantons have built a road along the eastern side of 
Lake Lucerne that would do honor to Napoleon in the 
days of his mightiest power. For miles it is cut into the 
edge of solid rock, which makes the bed of the road, and 
a parapet ; sometimes it is a tunnel, and once a tunnel with 
windows looking out on the lake. All are made by the 
voluntary, self-imposed taxation of a hard-working people. 



222 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

And SO far as I can judge or learn, this community, so 
governed, is as orderly and happy as any other. Whatever 
good government can do for a people is done for this, and 
the people do it for themselves. Switzerland is an en- 
lightened country, and probably as moral a people as any 
other. By law every child is required to attend school 
from three to four hours every day till he is twelve years 
old, and a certain number of hours every week afterwards 
till he is sixteen. This makes education a necessity, unless 
the children are incompetent to learn. And there is an 
enthusiasm on the subject of education surprising even to 
an American. The various grades of schools meet the 
wants of all, and fit the young for any department of 
life's great work. In this village the cantonal college, 
or high school, is located. Any parent may send his son 
here from any part of the canton, and he is educated at a 
trifling expense. Young men go from this school, at once, 
into mercantile employment in Asia, in France, England 
and America. And there are pupils in it from India, from 
Smyrna, from South America, Mexico, and New York. I 
heard a tramping in the street last evening, and, looking 
out of my window, saw a host of boys marching by. I 
learned, by inquify, that they were a school of one hundred 
and twenty, making a pedestrian tour through a part of 
their native country, Switzerland. Accompanied by their 
teachers, they thus walk day after day, getting health and 
knowledge and fun, for they make play of it as they go. 
Early this morning I was awakened by hearing them 
again. They had been lodged, how I know not, at the 
inns in the village, and now at three o'clock, a.m. (for I 
looked at my watch), they were up and off. Just then they 
struck up one of their merry songs, and serenaded the 
sleeping villagers as they took their leave. And even now, 
while I am writing these lines, I am called to the window 
to look out again, and here is a large school of girls, some 



SWISS CUSTOMS. 223 

of them small, and others young ladies grown, making a 
pedestrian tour. Both of these companies are three or four 
days' journey from their homes. They will be absent, 
perhaps, a week or a fortnight. And they will be wiser, 
healthier, and happier for the little tour. 

I mention these pleasant incidents to show the interest 
which teachers, parents, and pupils must take in the busi- 
ness of education, when the school is thus made a part of 
the pleasure, as well as the labor, of the young. Nor is the 
moral culture of the young neglected. Far, very far from 
it. These schools are not godless schools. Religious in- 
struction is not legislated out of education in this country. 
In this canton they are nearly all Protestants. But in St. 
Gall, where they are nearly equally divided, the Romanists 
have their own schools, and the Protestants have theirs, 
both supported by the same system, and working harmoni- 
ously, so far as any co-operation is required, but kept 
distinct in the matter of instruction. 

If the treatment of women, of the higher or lower order 
of creation, is a fair test of the civilization of a country, 
this Switzerland will rank very low. Good roads are con- 
sidered an evidence of a high standard of civihzation, and 
very justly; yet there must be some exceptions, for here 
in Switzerland, where they harness the cows and make 
them draw heavy loads, the roads are first-rate, smooth as 
a floor, and solid in all weathers. 

Probably this glorious land that I am now rejoicing in, 
can find some excuse for the sin and shame of making the 
cows and women do so much of the hard and heavy work ; 
and they may pretend that the women like it, and the cows 
are all the better for it. But it strikes me that nature has 
required certain duties of the gentler sex, that are so 
incompatible with the severer labors of the country, that 
they may be fairly excused from a service that requires the 



224 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

greater strength which God has given to men and oxen. 
In the beautiful city of Zurich, the most enhghtened, culti- 
vated, and refined city in the interior of Switzerland, where 
the most learned of her sons are educated, the city of 
Zuingle and Lavater and Pestalozzi, — and that boasts a 
monument to Nagel, a university, and polytechnic institute, 
— in that fair city I met a team, composed of a horse and 
cow, harnessed side by side, drawing a heavy load., the 
driver walking by the side of the cow, whose side was in 
welts, raised by the stout whip which he carried, and used 
mainly on her to make her keep up with the horse. It is 
more common still to see a single cow in harness drawing a 
load, and a yoke of oxen is a sight that I have very rarely 
seen in travelling here. Whether the males are more gener- 
ally sold for beef or not I cannot learn ; but it does not 
appear to any one here that it is out of the way to make 
this use of the cows. And I was rather pleased than other- 
wise, in conversation with a great and good philanthropist 
and reformer, to find that he professed to be ignorant of the 
fact that cows were put to such service, and when I 
assured him that I saw one in harness going by his door 
that day, he said it must have been an ox ! 

And to understand why it is that women work so much in 
the fields, we must see what is the principal employment of 
the people. I have seen forty women at work in the same field 
here, and not a man among them. No sort of work on the 
farm is considered too heavy for the women. How could it 
be, when at Boulogne we had crossed the British Channel, 
and landed in France, women rushed on board the steamer 
to carry our baggage ashore ! And here the women dig 
the fields, when a plough would do the work far better and 
more quickly. They carry out manure, or drive a cow that 
drags a load of it, and spread it on the soil. They mow. 
They rake and pitch hay. They plant and sow, and reap 



SWISS CUSTOMS. 225 

and pull, and manage the farm as they would do if the men 
were all off at war. And where are the men .'* 

They are not idle, nor dissipated, nor away from home. 
They are at work, and in the house, not tending the baby, 
nor baking the bread, nor washing the clothes ; but they 
are industrious, and what are they at ? The Swiss are a 
frugal, saving, thriving people. The amount of arable land 
is not enough to meet their wants. They are a manufac- 
turing, not an agricultural people, though they export cattle, 
butter, and cheese. Watches, jewelry, muslins, embroidery, 
and carved wood-work, are the principal articles of manu- 
facture for export, and these, with a few other branches, 
employ the most of the men ; for the work is done in the 
country very largely. The city of Geneva sells 75,000 
watches yearly ; but as you are riding in a diligence among 
the mountains, a man will step out from a little cottage and 
hand a neat, small package to the postilion, who puts it 
carefully into a place prepared for such deposits. It is the 
works of watches, or some jewelry, which the man has 
made in his own house, and is now sending to his em- 
ployer in Geneva. In the retired village where I am now 
writing, so secluded that if a man should commit a murder 
and come here to live, the New York detectives would 
never find him, even here the cellars of small houses are 
filled with machinery to weave Swiss muslins, and to 
embroider it exquisitely. The buyers from the Broadway 
stores have learned where to come, and boxes are lying in 
front of my window directed to Stewart, and to Arnold and 
others in New York. The places where this delicate work 
is done are damp and unhealthy ; but unless it is done in a 
damp room the gossamer thread becomes so brittle that it 
breaks in weaving. 

And all through the mountainous parts the carving of 
wood is the great business of the people. Saw-mills are run 



226 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

to cut up the trees to be made into ornamental articles for 
sale, and these extend from mantel clock cases worth 
$i,ooo to some gimcrack not worth a cent. The centre 
tables and chairs, the game pieces and desks, knives and 
forks, and whatnots, are far too numerous to mention ; but 
they display a degree of skill and taste in execution that 
would do no discredit to Greece or Italy in the days when 
sculpture was their glory. And all this mechanical work 
is done by men, and men only. 

The tendency of things is always to extremes, and here 
in the working-classes, and nearly all are in those classes 
in Switzerland, the men have pushed the women too largely 
out of doors, usurping employments that women might 
follow with success, while the men should take upon them- 
selves the labors that are too heavy for their wives. But 
Switzerland itself is an exceptional country. It has no fair 
chance in the world as a nation ; and so large a part of its 
surface is impracticable for the use of man, and it has be- 
come so great a resort for foreign tourists, they are ex- 
pected to spend all the money they can afford in the works 
of art which the natives produce. 

Walking out with a young German friend, who did not 
understand a word of the English language, I saw at a 
little distance an enclosure, neat gravel walks and shrub- 
bery, with flowers showing through the iron railing that 
surrounded it. I asked what the enclosure was, and the 
answer, in German, struck me pleasingly : " Gottesacker." 

I had never heard the word for graveyard before in Ger- 
man, though the EngUsh of it, " God's Acre," is familiar, 
and has often been the theme of poetry and prose. Gottes 
Acker is the acre or piece of ground that belongs not to 
man of all the land in the earth that he claims as his own, 
but is the Lord's. And why is it his ? The earth is the 
Lord's, and the fulness. The mountains and the valleys, 



SWISS CUSTOMS. 227 

the plains also, and all that are therein. Why is this small 
enclosure, a petty piece of ground in the midst of a wide, 
magnificent domain, alone called God's*? 

Yes, it is his, because all who inhabit this place have 
gone to him. We walked into the sacred enclosure, for 
the gate was open, inviting the passer-by to come in. The 
paths were neatly gravelled, and the plots surrounded with 
flowering shrubs, and the graves not raised above the ground 
as ours often are, but levelled, and each grave bordered with 
boxwood and planted with flowers. Few were marked 
with a headstone, but most of them had a staff set up in 
form of a cross, and on it a plate with a brief inscription. 
The centre of the graveyard was laid off in a circle, planted 
with trees and furnished with seats, where friends could 
sit in the shade, and meditate among the graves of departed 
friends. 

" And is Gottesacker the only word for this place in your 
German tongue ? " I asked. 

" It is also called Friedhof." 

Fried means peace, and Hof is the yard or a court of a 
house, and Friedhof is " the Court of Peace." This was 
another beautiful and fitting name. It speaks for itself, 
and sweetly expresses the feeling of this place. It is 
peace, all peace here. The battles of life are fought, and 
there is no strife in this court of peace. The struggles, 
cares, anxieties, rivalries, jealousies, fears, all that disquiet, 
harass, fret, and annoy, all, all are buried here. The tramp 
of a million men in arms awakens no sleeper here. The 
church itself may be rent and torn and shaken to its base, 
but its members in this court of peace are not distressed. 
These hearts that once panted, burned, and bled in the race, 
the stripes and sorrows of the world, are all at peace now. 
Blessed is the rest that cannot be broken till the trumpet 
calls. 



228 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

" That is a beautiful word," I said ; " and does your lan- 
guage furnish any other than these two, Gottesacker and 
Friedhof." 

" Yes, we sometimes speak of it as Todtengarten." 

The Garden of the Dead ! And so they plant flowers 
among the graves, and along the walks, and make the rural 
village graveyard an attractive, not a repulsive spot, a gar- 
den where friends, members of the same family, are at rest. 
Jesus was laid in a garden when he was dead. His mem- 
bers slept with him, and will blossom in the Paradise above, 
where the flowers never fade. 

Long before Abraham asked a burying-place to put his 
dead out of sight, the living had their funeral rites and 
ceremonies. And it is wonderful how widely they differ, 
in different parts of the world. There is, doubtless, a great 
difference in the customs of the various cantons of Switzer- 
land, for though the whole twenty-two of them would not 
make a state larger than New Jersey, they have a costume, 
or dress, peculiar to each, and many of their habits are 
equally singular. If the weather will permit, it is customary 
here to defer the funeral until Sunday, even if the person dies 
on Monday ; and thus it often occurs that there are two or 
three on the same day, and sometimes more. In a pop- 
ulation of three thousand, all belonging to one church, and 
the funerals being held in it, the number is frequently more 
than one or two at the same hour. The average number 
of deaths is about ninety in a year. Last Sunday there 
were three funerals here. The friends of the several 
deceased met in front of the respective houses where the 
dead were lying. None but the relatives enter the house. 
The three funerals were to be attended at the village church, 
and all' at the same hour, as early as nine in the morning. 
The body is placed in a plain deal coffin, sometimes, but 
rarely, painted. And the custom of the country forbids 



SWISS CUSTOMS. 229 

the rich to have a coffin more elegant than the poor ; the 
idea being that death abohshes all distinctions, and a plain 
coffin is good enough to be hid away in the ground. At 
the hour, the coffin with the dead is brought out of the 
house, and on a bier is borne on the shoulders of the near- 
est male relatives or friends. One of these funerals was 
that of an aged mother. She left eight sons and two 
daughters ; six of the sons were grown men, and they bore 
their mother on their shoulders to the grave. The three 
processions met near the church, and the three coffins were 
then borne in the order of the ages of the deceased, to the 
church, but not into it. The body is never taken into the 
church. But when the relatives and friends have entered, 
the body is carried by the bearers immediately into the 
Gottesacker, God's Acre, the graveyard, which usually 
adjoins the church. It is there buried, while none are 
present except those who do the work. I stood at a little 
distance while this melancholy service was performed. It 
was not pleasing to me that the dead should be thus put 
away unwept. And another custom was equally unpleasant 
to me. The graves are arranged in regular order, without 
any distinction of families, and as each person in the place 
dies, he is buried in the grave- next to the one who was 
buried before him. It may have been a neighbor with 
whom he was at enmity, but now in death they sleep side 
by side, and know it not. Families are separated by the 
grave, as well as by death, and no two of them, unless they 
die together, may be laid together in the grave. This is 
surprising when we notice the remarkable attention they 
bestow on the Garden of the Dead. For when the dead 
are buried, the friends come, day after day, and adorn the 
grave with flowers, and surround it with a border of green, 
and water it with their tears of love. 

While the body is thus cared for by the bearers, the 



230 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

funeral service is proceeding in the church. This is sim- 
ilar to the service in our own country, the prayers and 
selections of Scripture being read, and a sermon preached, 
the same discourse answering, of course, for all who are 
buried on the same day. At the funeral, all the men in 
attendance wear a black mantle, of bombazine or serge, 
which they may get, for a trifle, of the undertaker, who 
keeps them for hire. Persons of property have them of 
their own, to wear only on funeral occasions, but the most 
of the people hire them when wanted, and thus every man 
at the funeral appears as a mourner. All the women dress 
in black when attending a funeral, and they never go to 
church in any other than a black dress. This is a very 
peculiar custom, but is invariably followed by all the peo- 
ple of this country. Not a light-colored dress appears in 
the great congregation on the Sabbath-day, or at a funeral. 
If I have not already spoken to you of the cultivation, 
refinement, and manners of the intelligent, wealthy, and 
*' upper " classes of the people, I say that a very erroneous 
and unjust opinion has been formed on this point, by trav- 
ellers whose observations have been confined to hotels and 
highways, their only intercourse with men who make it 
their business to get as much as possible out of all who 
fall into their hands. It has been my pleasure this summer 
to meet in social life among the Swiss some of the pleas- 
antest, most intelligent, and agreeable women and men that 
will be found in any country. Their manners and minds, 
as well as their persons, would grace any assembly, and 
they appeared to be only the fitting representatives of the 
best circles of society in this remarkable land. They admire 
their own country. Patriotism burns as brightly among 
these mountains as on our own shores. And when it was 
mentioned that I might write a book on Switzerland, a 
beautiful and accomplished lady bade me be careful, or she 



SWISS CUSTOMS. 



231 



would make another and set me right if I failed to do jus- 
tice to her beloved Switzerland. I could only say to her, 
in reply, that the threat was a temptation to error. But 
any one who becomes familiar with the inner life of this 
people, will find as much to admire and esteem as in any 
European country. 




532 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

GERMAN WATERING-PLACES — BINGEN ON THE RHINE. 

A GERMAN watering-place, with its nauseous springs, 
its inviting groves and garden and shady walks and 
rustic seats and bowers, its conversation house, and sweet, 
clean beds and airy rooms and quiet halls, was in our way, 
and a Sabbath was just ahead of us. So we would rest 
there according to the commandment. 

I have been left alone, or with my little party only, in a 
wayside inn, among the Swiss valleys, and have seen troops 
of travellers, some of them with white cravats and straight 
coat collars, go on their way of a bright, glad, summer 
Sabbath morning, when it seemed to me the mountains 
looked down with a divine benediction and invited us to sit 
all day under their shadows and worship toward the holy 
hill of Zion. And a Sabbath in a wilderness, alone, is well 
spent, if the soul is at peace, and the wearied limbs of a 
pilgrim are suffered also to have rest. 

If a land impregnated with salt is cursed, this region 
ought to be barren ; but it is not. It is a rich, pictu- 
resque, rolling country, and a beautiful river flows through 
its waving harvest-fields, just now white for the sickle. 
Sometimes a bold chff stands majestically on the river- 
side, and an old feudal castle hangs on the summit, where 
once the lord of the domain held high revel and strong rule, 
a robber on land and a pirate on the river he would be 
called now, since his race has run out, and kings who do 
the same things that he did are reckoned as the lawful 



GERMAN WATERING-PLACES. 233 

plunderers as well as rulers of the people. So the robber 
told Alexander, and the king couldn't see it, but it was true 
nevertheless. 

They make salt curiously in these parts. The water is 
pumped up from springs or wells into troughs, which are 
raised on scaffolding thirty or more feet high ; and below 
these troughs a solid mass of brush is piled, a wall some 
ten feet thick, standing on a reservoir ; this brush wall 
reaches hundreds and thousands of feet along, according 
to the extent of the works employed. The pumps are 
moved by water-power, and slowly and steadily, cease- 
lessly, day and night, they raise the water into the troughs 
above, through which it trickles upon this brush and drops 
down, down, down into the basins below ; this exposes the 
water to the action of the air and rapidly evaporates it ; 
so that what runs through the heap and finally reaches the 
reservoir below is exceedingly strong, and by completing 
the process with boiling is readily converted into salt. 

The vicinity of these works is a healthful resort for in- 
valids, who find the atmosphere more highly charged with 
saline particles than the shores of the sea itself. In the 
neighborhood of the mighty wall of wood are boarding- 
houses, as at the sea-shore, and in the pleasant, shady side 
the ladies sit with their needle-work or books in hand, 
inhaling the invigorating air, and enjoying the quietest, 
coolest, and most bracing climate in hot weather, and on 
the outskirts of the fashionable world. On the bank of the 
river we found a place to stay, and from it made excursions 
into the regions beyond. A rock, rising one thousand feet 
perpendicularly from the water, held on its giddy summit 
the tottering remnants of the fortress of one of the petty 
tyrants of the olden time, and a circuit of five or six miles, 
in a broiling day, brought us by a path that no wheels can 
traverse to the height. Tradition tells of the last of the 
barons who held his court in these walls ; how his daughter 



234 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

was loved and wooed by his rival chieftain, whose castle still 
stands erect across the river a few miles below and in full 
view of this ; how the " cruel father " refused to give his 
daughter to his foe, and the lover lured her by the arts of 
love to aid him in his daring scheme to capture her father's 
castle and compel him to surrender her in exchange for his 
liberty and his home ; how the stratagem succeeded, and 
the circumvented parent threw himself headlong from the 
rampart into the frightful abyss, and the lovers, after de- 
stroying the stronghold, removed to their castle below, and 
became the ancestors of a distinguished family of an unpro- 
nounceable German name. All this tradition tells, and to 
write it all out would be perhaps worth the while of some 
one who has nothing better to do. 

Our next stopping-place was Homburg, one of the more 
modern, but the most brilliant of the watering-places in 
Europe. Like some of our own cities, it has rapidly rushed 
into notoriety ; that is just the word for the reputation it has 
made for itself, and by which it has made its fortunes and 
ruined the fortunes of thousands who have sought its 
hospitalities. 

A very few years ago a wide waste of marshy meadows, 
swamps we would call them, lay around and over the spot 
that now gathers and holds for the season the fashion and 
style and rank of the gayest European capitals, — the largest 
and most distinguished circle of " the upper classes " to be 
found at any fashionable resort in the world. It is a city of 
hotels, and these on a scale of elegance that is not sur- 
passed. But between these hotels and the waters of health 
that first drew the crowds hither, are these original mea- 
dows, now covered with young woods, and intersected by 
numberless walks and drives, in which a stranger might 
easily be lost, and left to wander hours and hours without 
finding his way out. Beyond these shaded groves we come 
to the springs, several, with various properties, very kindly 



GERMAN WATERING-PLACES. 235 

arranged to meet the many maladies of man, and all of 
them sufficiently disagreeable to be medicinal. Neatness, 
order, elegance reign everywhere. Around . the springs, 
through the avenues overhung with venerable trees, along 
the rows of beautiful lodging-houses and residences of 
those who permanently pass the summer here, the quiet- 
ness of private life rests with a grace and charm quite rare 
in a great watering-place. This gives to Homburg such an 
attraction that thousands of the quietest class of people in 
the world love to come here for refreshment and repose. 
They need not go into the Kursaal, though that word 
means cure-hall or cure-house. I would call it Kursaal, or 
curse-all, because it is the curse of all who are drawn into 
its vortex. 

It is a palace. In its extent, its proportions, and appoint- 
ments, it is fit for a royal residence, all the arts of orna- 
mentation being exhausted to make it a splendid temple of 
pleasure, instead of a hospital or asylum for the sick and 
suffering. This palace, with its broad piazzas looking upon 
beautiful gardens, where elegant women are sitting under 
the shade, with their books or fancy needle-work, while a 
German band fills the soft and fragrant atmosphere with 
delicious waves of music ; this palace, with its concert- 
rooms and ball-rooms and reading-rooms, filled with all 
the choicest periodicals of all nations, which studious old 
men are diligently pondering ; this palace, so still, so beau- 
tiful, so gorgeous in its decorations, and so well fitted to 
bear the inscription which Ptolemy Soter put upon his 
library at Alexandria, ''The Medicine of the Soul," — this 
palace was also the great gambling-house in Europe. 

A grand saloon that stretches across the house holds two 
long tables, around which are seated thirty or forty men 
and women, intent, silent, more statue than life-like. With 
your eyes closed you would scarcely be conscious that any 
one was in the room. The clicking of gold and silver on 



236 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

the table, the few words of the manager as he decides a 
point, an occasional deep-drawn sigh as pent-up emotion 
finds escape, with now and then an involuntary exclamation, 
evidently out of order and quite disagreeable to all con- 
cerned, — these are the only interruptions to \\i^ solemn, 
painful stillness of the Homburg gaming-table. I have 
heard that something more startling thar^ an oath or a 
groan sometimes has interrupted the current of the play, 
, and that a gambler, in a paroxysm of rage and despair, has 
blown out his brains at the table. But such incidents are 
not of every-day occurrence. Besides, people who play 
here have not many brains to blow out. They are not 
insane. But as a class, they are below the average of the 
human family in intellectual force, because they stake their 
money with the knowledge that the chances are not even, 
are always against them, and in favor of the bank, or 
managers of the table. In playing roulette^ or rouge et noir^ 
the two games which are constantly going on, a bystander 
sees that the taker draws in more than he shoves out, and 
that the tendency of things is steadily in favor of the bank, 
while chance id.xox'^ the victims just often enough to keep up 
the hope that they will make a grand hit by and by and make 
up all their losses. Yet the game is so transparently in the 
hands of the managers, that one wonders any one can be 
so big a fool as to lose all his money in such hopeless ven- 
tures. The bank sets up a certain amount of money every 
day, as the capital for that day, and stories are told of some 
heavy gambler now and then breaking the bank, but that 
means only that by a fortunate run he has cleaned out what 
was set up for the time, and to-morrow it is all right again 
with the same or a larger capital. But these stories are 
mostly fictitious, set afloat by the bank itself, which, by 
pretending to be broken^ encourages the idea that it is just 
as apt to lose money as those who are playing against it. 
Some of these people are historic characters. One of 



GERMAN WATERING-PLACES. 23/ 

them here now is the brother of the Viceroy of Egypt, 
and he plays heavily, but stops when he has had excite- 
ment enough. A fatalist by profession, he takes his chances 
as decrees, and consoles himself with other pleasures when 
these go against him. A German princess, who is the 
model of all the virtues at home, gratifies a darling passion 
during the summer months by wasting half her income in 
this gambling-house. American travellers are the most 
cautious of all the company ; but now and then a dissipated 
youngster takes a plunge into swifter ruin in the waters of 
this terrible stream. Most pitiable it is to see fair women, 
and sometimes women that are known to be exemplary in 
society beyond the sea, trying it just once, tempting luck ; 
and if they lose they usually stop after the first loss, but if 
they win they try again, and so on, until they lose all they 
have about them and can borrow of their friends. 

A few hours' ride across the country brought us to 
Kreusnach. The name of this watering-place had never 
reached me before, and it added one more to the many 
springs or spas with vv^hich Germany abounds. An army of 
servants rushed out to the carriage, as we drew up to the 
door of the Hotel Hollande, and in good English proffered 
their services to take us and our luggage in. The luggage 
we leave on the carriage until the rooms and the terms are 
found agreeable, and as we could have a handsome parlor 
and bedroom adjoining, on the front of the house, second 
floor, for one thaler, or six francs (1 1.20) a day, we were 
not long in deciding that this was the place to stay in. 

The salt springs of this region have long been known, 
but only of late have the wonderful medicinal properties of 
the waters been understood. Nov/ some sixty thousand 
persons come here annually, and the number is increasing. 
The people, waking up to the idea that they have a foun- 
tain of wealth as well as of health in the bubbling spring, 
have erected a cure-house on an island in the river Nahe, 



238 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

and hotels and lodging-houses have sprung up along the 
stream ; a regimen has been prescribed, by which the 
greatest good of the healing waters may be had, but it is 
left to the choice of the visitor whether he will follow the 
rules or disobey them, and go away no better than he came. 

At Kissingen it is not so. In that dehghtful little town, 
where royal blood comes to be purified, and nobles as well 
as commons gather in. great numbers every year, they are 
so jealous of the honor of their waters, that no visitor is 
permitted to tarry in the place who will not comply with 
the rules of eating and drinking and bodily exercise which 
are prescribed by the medical authorities. These rules are 
simple and wholesome, and it will do you good to take the 
course, but if you will not, they take their course with you, 
which is to send you out of town forthwith, lest you should 
lose your health by your imprudence, and so bring dis- 
credit on the Kissingen waters. Fancy such a law as that 
at Saratoga ! It is said that more sick people go away 
from the springs than come, but this is not to be affirmed 
of Kissingen, beautiful Kissingen, the cheapest and prettiest 
of the health-giving spas of Germany. A clergyman in 
Paris told me that he spends a month in Kissingen every 
summer, fifty dollars paying all his expenses, — going, stay- 
ing, and coming home ! 

You can live nearly, — not quite, — as cheaply here at 
Kreusnach. The band, a fine German band, discourses 
sweet music in the park near the spring, at six o'clock in 
the morning; we drink, — faugh! yes, we drink the salt 
and horrid water and return "to breakfast at eight, after a 
promenade in the groves ; at eleven a bath is to be taken 
in the hot«l, to which the water is carried in barrels and 
emptied into a reservoir, from which it is led into the baths ; 
it is artificially warmed to the temperature of the blood ; it 
is strengthened by the addition of the strong, boiled salt 
water that remains uncrystallized at the salt-works in the 



GERMAN WATERING-PLACES. 239 

vicinity ; and this water, sold for this purpose, brings more 
money, by a third, than the salt itself. This drinking and 
bathing are good for scrofulous and all cutaneous com- 
plaints ; for bad livers, that is, for those whose livers are 
bad ; for dyspeptics, rheumatic people, and all kindred ail- 
ments. Indeed, these German springs are a pretty sure 
cure for almost any of the ordinary, perhaps extraordinary, 
ills of the flesh, because the climate, is good, the mountain 
air is bracing, and the regimen requires a fair amount of 
temperance and exercise ; and he must be in a very bad 
way who will not get well under the simple, exhilarating, 
purifying, and strengthening influences of this kind of life. 

Here in Kreusnach we meet with men and women from 
the most distant parts of the Continent, attracted by the 
fame of this salt water. A Russian gentleman and wife, 
with an infant child, on whose account they came, had 
travelled six weeks in a sledge to St. Petersburg. Their 
children had died of scrofula, and they brought this live 
one over that vast tract of country, through northern cold, 
that its system in infancy might be renovated by this 
modern Bethesda. The Princess of Mecklenberg is here 
now, and last Sunday she proposed to attend the English 
Church service. The good rector heard of her intention, 
and thought it his duty to call and pay his respects. Un- 
happily he could not speak a word of German, and when he 
attempted to introduce himself at the door of the Princess' 
lodgings, the servant understood him to be the postman, 
and brought him the letters ready to go to the post-office. 
His call was only deference to rank, and there was no need 
of it, except as every sinner needs a pastor's care, and the 
Princess took no notice of it. 

At a cell in the hill-side near the spring, whey is dis- 
pensed to those who daily drink it for the whey-cure. It 
has a great repute. So has the grape-cure in August and 
September. Either of them is just as good as the salt- 



240 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

water-cure, and that is good beyond a doubt. I have great 
faith in any kind of doctoring that includes rest from busi- 
ness, with moderate eating and drinking, and plenty of 
exercise in the open air. Give the waters the credit of it, 
or the whey, or the grapes, or the doctors, it makes no dif- 
ference what or who has the credit, if you have the cure. 

But stop this everlasting rushing after the world that is 
perishing, and wait a little while at Kreusnach, or Kissin- 
gen, or one of a dozen places I could name. Here take 
your ease. Eat, drink, and be happy. ^ Bathe your weary 
limbs in these youth-renewing waters. Walk out among 
these surrounding forests and hills. There stands the 
ruined Castle of Rheingraffenstein, on a crag that overhangs 
the Nahe ; wind your way up one side, and when you have 
rested on the height, pick your way down the other side to 
a garden on the banks of the river ; there refresh again ; 
then in one of the little boats be rowed down to Ebernburg, 
the site of an ancient castle, which has now been remodelled 
into a hotel ; but the relics of Luther and other Reformers 
who once were sheltered here are still preserved, as well as 
the balls with which the French blew the old towers off the 
hill into the waters below. Rusty swords, spears, chains, 
and old keys are laid in heaps, as some slight index of the 
good time coming, when spears and swords shall be turned 
into ploughs and pruning-knives. 

Where the Nahe flows into the Rhine, there or about 
there, stands Bingen, and no amount of pretty poetry that 
has been said or sung about " Bingen on the Rhine " can 
make it any thing but a dull, dry, flat, dusty village, and 
horribly disagreeable at noon on a scorching hot day, such 
as this. We footed it half a mile from the station under a 
blazing sun, as there was no way to ride, and found a cool 
shade, while waiting for the steamboat to come up the 
river. The sight was romantic and picturesque. In the 
water, a little way above us, stand the ruins of Bishop 



BINGEN ON THE RHINE. 



241 



Hatto's tower, the story of which is too famihar to be told 
again. He had hoarded corn in a time of famine, and the 
rats pursued him for his wickedness. He fled to this 
tower in the river. The rats swam out to it, ran up the 
walls, found their way in, and cleaned the Bishop's bones 
for him. Southey has done the story into a ballad. 



n 




On the Rhine. 



The Castle of Ehrenfels is on the side of the hill across 
the river, and the Rudesheimer vineyards on the hill-sides 
furnish that celebrated variety. All the Rhine wines are 
named from the castle, chateau, or neighborhood where 
they are made. The flavor depends more on the soil than 
on the art with which the wine is made. The process is 
substantially the same in all the vineyards, but the flavor of 

16 



242 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

the liquor is decidedly different. The hill-sides are so 
steep, and the rains are sometimes so heavy, that the soil is 
often carried down into the bed of the rivers. It can then 
be recovered only by scooping it from the bottom, and 
carrying it up in baskets. This is done every year. We 
might fear it would be spoiled by being carried into the 
river, but the loss of strength is not enough to alter the 
nature of the original. Some of the brands are famous, and 
the prices vary accordingly ; but the cheapness of these 
wines here on the ground, compared with New York, 
makes one readily believe that the importation of wines 
must be among the most money-making of all kinds of 
business. Vinegar and water is quite as good a drink as 
much of this wine, and a little sugar added makes it better. 
Prince Metternich owns the famous Johannisberg vineyard, 
a little farther on, of seventy acres, of which many and 
fabulous tales are told of the small quantity and great 
prices of the wine, of the celebrated men who have owned 
the vineyard, and how very costly the wine becomes by age. 
But I will not weary you with them. The river itself is 
identified with the history of Europe. Taking its rise in 
the St. Gothard Pass in Switzerland, it receives tributaries 
all the way down, yet it is a small and comparatively insig- 
nificant stream. But kings have often fought for it, and it 
was the late French Emperor's highest ambition to water 
his horses in the Rhine. 

The art of printing makes Mayence immortal, and here 
we stopped to look at the monument to Guttenberg, its 
inventor, a grand statue by Thorvaldsen. It is the fate 
of few inventors to get their due in their lifetime ; some of 
them want bread, and the public will not give them even a 
stone till long after they have been starved to death. It 
was the fate of Guttenberg to struggle hard for years 
against rival claimants to the credit and the profit of his 
invention, and so incredulous is the world of the truth, — 



BINGEN ON THE RHINE. 243 

though ready enough to believe a lie, — that his existence 
was called in question, and his name has been pronounced 
a myth. And to this day there are people who think that 
Faust, who is popularly reported to be the — or in league 
with the — devil, had more to do with the black art inven- 
tion than Guttenberg. They, that is Guttenberg and 
Faust, were in partnership for a while, but that was long 
after the real inventor had made the art a success, and the 
claims of Faust and his son-in-law Schoffer, both of whom 
were willing to be credited with the invention, have now 
given way to the hght of evidence, and Guttenberg holds 
his own against the field. It is in legal proof that as early 
as 1438 Guttenberg was at work with his press and mov- 
able types. In 1450 he formed a partnership with Faust 
to carry on the business of printing, and he died in 1468. 
In a book published at Mayence in 1505, Johan Schoffer 
states " that the admirable art of printing was invented in 
Mentz (Mayence), in 1450, by the ingenious Johan Gut- 
tenberg, and was subsequently improved and handed down 
to posterity by the capital and labor of Johan Faust and 
Peter Schoffer." The writer of this was the son of Peter 
Schoffer. He is mistaken in the date, for it is easily 
proved that Guttenberg was printing many years before 
1450, which was the date not of the invention, but of his 
entering into partnership with Faust. 

As I stood in front of this monument to a man whose 
genius and industry gave to the world this great boon, the 
statue itself appeared to be sublimely eloquent, as if from 
those lips, representatives of the lips long since returned 
to dust, was now going forth the streams of wisdom and 
knowledge and power that make up the rivers of happiness 
and usefulness in the art of printing as it has blessed man- 
kind for four centuries, and will continue to flow with 
increasing volume to the end of time. Perhaps somebody 
else would have invented the art if he had not. It may 



244 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

be that God would have made another man whose brain 
would be the womb from which this grand invention would 
have sprung. But there stands the man who first began 
to print with movable types, and from his beginning the 
work has gone forward, widening in its reach and power, 
and is yet only in the infancy of its career. If he could 
have anticipated even the present extent of its influence, 
what mighty emotions would have swelled his heart ! And 
as I look upon this image of him, I feel that beyond any 
other mere man who has ever lived in the annals of time, 
he is entitled to stand pre-eminent as the benefactor of the 
human race. And it is worth remarking that scarcely any 
art has made so little real improvement for the last three 
hundred years, as the art of type-making. The types were 
as clear cut, and the impression just as perfect then as now. 
We do work faster and cheaper, but not better. 

I walked into the cathedral and fell to musing among the 
ruinous tombs ; a few children were gathered in one corner 
and a priest was engaged in giving them instruction ; the 
setting sun was lighting up the colored arches and naves 
of red sandstone, giving a peculiar effect to the shabby 
temple, but there was nothing here to divert my thoughts 
from the statue, the man, and the work commemorated. 
It was glory enough for one city to have been the birth- 
place of such an art. Pilgrims will come hither with in- 
creasing reverence in far distant years. And I hope they 
will have a cooler day than I had. The mercury is now at 
96 in the shade. 



PILGRIMAGE TO AIX-LA-CHAPELLE. 



245 



CHAPTER XX. 
PILGRIMAGE TO AIX-LA-CHAPELLE. 




Aix-la-Chapklue, 



246 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 



TT is now nigh upon a thousand years since King Otto 
"^ ordered the tomb of Charlemagne to be opened. The 
floor of the cathedral of Aix-la-Chapelle was broken up, 
the sacred mausoleum that cherished the remains of the 
mightiest of emperors was entered ; and there he sat in the 
chamber of death, as in a hall of state, on a marble chair, 
in the vestments of his imperial office, a sword at his side, 
a crown on his head, and a Bible in his hand ! 

Charlemagne was born in this place in the year 742. 
The cathedral is his monument, and under the central dome 
is a slab in the floor with the simple inscription, " Carolo 
Magno." The cathedral was adorned with the richest mar- 
bles the world could furnish, and the highest art of the age 
was lavished in its structure and ornament. The windows 
reach from the roof nearly to the ground, and with their 
rich decorations give a peculiar beauty to the interior. The 
city has again and again been ravaged by enemies ; other 
buildings have been razed to their foundations, but this has 
steadily stood in the midst of war and fires and centuries 
of decay and change. Long has it been the shrine of 
Roman worship, for Pope Leo consecrated it in 804 ; and 
thus, a thousand years and more, it has been gathering 
treasures of wealth, of association, and interest. It is now 
the most sacred shrine in the north, and, indeed, it is not 
likely that any spot this side of Rome has half so much to 
excite the veneration of the faithful. 

Perhaps Rome herself has not more holy relics. This is 
a bold supposition. But the hst of sacred things here col- 
lected ' is so long and so wonderful, and the estimate in 
which they are held is so high, that the city fairly lays 
claims to the first rank among the favored. Therefore 
pilgrimages are made to these shrines as to the Holy 
City itself. 

My pilgrimage hither was accidental, or, rather, providen- 



PILGRIMAGE TO AIX-LA-CHAPELLE. 24/ 

tial. As I came into it at the close of a summer's day, the 
streets were thronged with men and women, moving up 
and down, apparently without an object, swaying like the 
waves of the sea, and I asked if this was the usual crowd 
on the streets of an evening. It was at the height of the 
season for visitors to its famous fountains of water ; for 
long before it was a shrine for pilgrims coming to pray, it 
was known for its mineral springs and their remarkable 
healing virtues. What more could be desired than a charm 
to cure diseases both of the bodies and the souls of stran- 
gers. The old pagan Romans knew the efficacy of these 
waters ; and through all the centuries, since their rule, the 
city has been a fashionable watering-place. It was once 
the seat of empire, and the palace of Charlemagne, whose 
name invests it with more than romantic interest, has now 
passed away. Yet the city is frequented annually by thou- 
sands from distant parts, drawn here by the well-established 
reputation of the springs. It was, therefore, natural for me 
to ask if these crowds were the usual concourse of people 
on the streets of a summer evening. 

The answer to my inquiry indicated as much surprise as 
the disciples exhibited when they said, " Art thou only a 
stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things 
which are come to pass there in these days ? " 

I was told that it was the last day but one of the pilgrim- 
age to the holy relics, and that this was the grand eve of the 
procession, the most remarkable pageant that is ever to be 
seen in these parts of the world. Of course this led to 
further inquiries, and I found myself suddenly and acci- 
dentally participating in one of the most extraordinary spec- 
tacles that I had ever seen or heard of. It will be a long 
story, but you must read it. 

How the many precious relics came to be collected here 
I cannot learn ; but the antiquity and wealth of the cathe- 
dral, and the vast power wielded for centuries by the 



248 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

Catholic emperors who were here crowned, would easily 
make this spot the nucleus around which superstition and 
faith would rally all their strength. So it came to pass in 
the lapse of time that the number and value of the offer- 
ings which popes and kings and others made to this shrine 
became immense, and no money would now be considered 
an equivalent for the priceless treasures. Here is a list of 
them, to be read with all the faith you can summon : — 

THE RELICS OF AIX-LA-CHAPELLE. 

A. The stiperior relics^ 
known under the popular name of the "great " relics. 

1. The white garment of the mother of our Lord. 

2. The swathing-clothes of our Saviour. 

3. The cloth in which was laid the body of St. John the Baptist after 

his decapitation. 

4. The cloth which our Saviour wore around his loins in the dread- 

ful hour of his death. 
These superior relics are shown every seventh year only, or excep- 
tionally to crowned heads on their special demand. 

B. The inferior relics are 

5. The woven linen girdle of the Holy Virgin, in a reliquary 

(liburium). 

6. The girdle (cingulum) of Jesus, made of leather, in a precious 

vessel. 

7. Part of the rope with which our Saviour was tied in his passion. 

8. Joined in a reliquary : 

a. A fragment of the sponge that served to refresh our dying 

Lord upon the cross. 

b. A particle of the holy cross. 

c. Some hair of the Apostle St. Bartholomew. 

d. Several bones of Zachary, father to St. John the Baptist. 

e. Two teeth of the Apostle St. Thomas. 

9. In a rehquary : Part of an arm of old St. Simeon, and in a vial of 

agate some oil that once came forth from out the bones of St. 
Catherine. 



PILGRIMAGE TO AIX-LA-CHAPELLE. 249 

10. In a gothic chapel : 

a. The point of a nail with which our Lord was nailed to the 

cross. 

b. A particle of the holy cross. 

c. A tooth of St. Catherine. 

d. Part of a leg (tibia) of the Emperor Charlemagne. 

11. In a shrine representing a gothic church, richly enamelled and 

adorned with pearls and precious stones : 

a. A fragment of the reed that served to make a mock of our 

Saviour. 

b. A part of the linen cloth which was spread over his holy face 

in the grave. 

c. Some hair of St. John the Baptist. 

d. A rib of the first martyr, St. Stephen. 

12. In a rehquary, in the form of a great arm, is enclosed the upper 

part of the right arm of Charlemagne. 

13. The bugle-horn of Charlemagne. 

14. A bust of Charlemagne, containing a part of the scull of the great 

emperor. 

15. A golden cross, containing a particle of the holy cross. 

16. In a shrine representing a Greek chapel, the scull of the holy 

monk St. Anastasius. 

17. A statue of St. Peter the Apostle, showing in his hand a ring 

from the chain with which this man of God, who has suffered 
so many persecutions and trials, was chained in the prison. 

18. Bones of the holy bishop and martyr Spei, in a httle ivory chest. 

19. A great gilt silver shrine, containing several bones of Charle- 

magne. 

C. The principal works of art in the treasure of the 

cathedral. 

20. A shrine, the depository for the great rehcs. 

21. A chest richly ornamented, used when the relics are borne to the 

gallery for the public show. 

22. A vessel, containing the pectoral cross of Charlemagne. 

D. Relics and other remarkable objects of the other 

churches of the town. 
a. In the parish church of St. Adalbert. 
I. The scull of the bishop and martyr St. Ethelbert, conveyed to 
Aix-la-Chapelle by Otto III. 



250 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

2. A shoulder-bone and a leg-bone of St. Mary Magdalen. 

3. Two small particles of the sponge with which our Lord was re- 

freshed on the cross. 

4. Two particles of the scull of St. Quirinus. 

5. The scull of St. Hermetis, of which Henry II. made a donation 

to this church. 

6. Bones of St. Nicholas, the Bishop of Mira. 

7. The shoulder-blade of St. Laurence the martyr. 

8. A leg-bone and a fragment of the coat of St. Benedict. 

9. An arm-bone of St. Sebastian. 

10. The hunting-knife of the Emperor St. Henry, founder of this 

church. 

1 1 . The veil of St. Gertrude. 

12. A leg-bone of St. Agnes. 

13. The jaw-bone with a tooth of St, Denis Areopagita. 

14. A bone and some blood of St. Stephen. 

15. A part of the coat of St. Walpurgis. 

16. A part of the holy cross. 

17. The arm-bone of St. Christopher. 

18. A fragment of the crib in which our Lord was laid at his birth. 

19. Some bones of St. Marcellus and other saints. 

b. In the church of St. Theresa. 

1. A piece of the linen cloth that covered the face of our Lord in the 

house of Caiphas, when he was beaten, and asked, " Now, 
do prophesy us," &c. 

2. A "corporale," reddened with the holy blood that an inattentive 

priest shed while he was consecrating the chalice. 

3. A linen cloth of the Holy Virgin. The knight-german of Rander- 

aidt carried it from the Orient, and by the intercession of the 
father Lector Arnold, of Wallhorn, it was deposited in the con- 
vent of St. Augustin in Aix-la-Chapelle. 

4. The scull of the holy martyr Theodore. 

5. A piece of the hnen cloth in which was laid the body of St 

Laurence when taken from the fire. 

6. A part of the soutane in which deacon St. Laurence served at the 

altar. 

7. Some oil that is recorded to have come from the bones of St. 

Elizabeth. 

8. A part of the holy cross. 



PILGRIMAGE TO AIX-LA-CHAPELLE. 25 1 



c. In the parish church of St. yohn the Baptist at Burtschied, 

near Aix-la-Chapelle. 

1. A cross containing two pieces of the holy cross, pieces of the 

clothes of Jesus Christ, of the pillar and the whip serving at 
the scourging of our Lord, of the garment of the Holy Vir- 
gin and bones of St. Paul and St. James the younger, and 
finally a piece of the rod of Aaron and Moses. 

2. A silver gilt bust, with a large piece of the scull of St. Laurence. 

3. A silver gilt bust, with an arm-bone of St. John the Baptist. 

4. A bust, with the scull of St. Evermarus. 

5. The scull of the Holy Virgin and martyress St. Agatha. 

6. A relic shrine, containing in its top a piece of the holy cross ; in 

the centre, bones of St. Andrew the Apostle, teeth and bones 
of the apostles Simon Juda, James the younger, Matthias, and 
of the evangelists St. Luke and St. Mark, of the levites and 
martyrs St. Timotheus, Vincent, of the martyrs St. Fabian and 
St. Sebastian, of St. Stephen, St. Barbara, and the saints Vitus 
and Fortunatus ; in the four corners, reHcs of the saints John 
the Baptist, Donatus, Emerentia, Cornelius, the pope and 
martyr, of the saints Cyprianus, Hermet, Aegidius, Pancra- 
tius, and Luzia ; and in its base, a rehc of St. Adrian and an 
arm-bone of St Laurence. 

7. A shrine, containing in its top a piece of the holy cross ; in the 

centre, different bones of St. Laurence, a piece of the scull of 
St. Sixtus ; in the four corners, relics of St. John Chrysosto- 
mus, of St. Calixtus, of St. Gregorius, and pieces of the sculls 
and bones of St. Apolinaris, and of St. Maurice ; in the base, 
relics of St. Damasus and an arm-bone of St. Alexis. 

8. A shrine, with bones of St. Maxirnus and his colleagues, viz. : Of 

the saints Lambert, Gervasius. and Protasius, of St. Peter 
Justinianus, of the apostles St. Andrew, Matthias, and Matthew, 
of the saints Gregorius, Chrysostomus, Servatius, FeHx, Luzia, 
and Elizabeth, mother to St. John the Baptist. 

9. A shrine, with relics of St. Valerius and Germanus, St. Cosmas 

and St. Damianus, St. Martin and St. Constantia, teeth of 
the apostles St. Peter and St. Paul, of St. Cordula, teeth of St. 
Sixtus, St. Cassius, St. Juliana, St. Matthias, St. Evermarus, 
and of the holy queen Binosa. 
10. A pyramid, with reHcs of St. Barbara, St. Peter, St. Juhana, St. 
ApoUonia, and St. Apollinarus ; in the base, a relic of the holy 
martyr Laurence. 



252 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

11. A pyramid, with a tooth of the holy apostle St. Matthias, bones of 

St. Vitahs, of John the Baptist, and the apostles St. James and 
St. Bartholomew, and of St. Marcellus and St. Laurence. 

12. Little fragments of the swathing-clothes of our Lord. 

13. A bone of the Holy Virgin and martyress Luzia. 

14. The penitential coat of St. Margaret, royal princess of Hungaria. 

15. In a small vial some blood of St. John the Baptist. 

16. A portrait of the holy bishop Nicholas in Greek mosaic. 

17. A grave wherein lie the bones and relics of St. Gregorius, son to 

the Greek Emperor Nicephorus, who was the first abbot of this 
church, that once had been a free imperial chapter. 

18. A fragment of hnen tinged with blood of the priest St. Francis, of 

Jerome, S. J. 

19. A particle of the bones of St.. John the Baptist. 

20. A little box, containing a particle of the scull of St. John the 

Baptist, particles of the bones of St. Raynerus, of St. Lewis, 
king of France, and of the Holy Virgin, and martyress Cath- 
erine. 

21. A fragment of the cloak of St. Francis, of Assisi, 

22. A particle of the bones of the innocent children. 

Several hundred years ago it was the custom to expose 
these relics every year in the month of July ; but it was 
found that in some stormy war times the precious things 
were in danger of being carried off, and it was ordered that 
once in seven years they should be exhibited to the be- 
lievers. It was the year and the day of the septennial 
demonstration when the Sultan of Turkey and I arrived at 
Aix-la-Chapelle. The unbelieving Mohammedan did not 
stay and see the show, but I did. 

It was now dark ; but I walked around the cathedral. All 
the streets leading to it were thronged with people, and 
through the crowds it was hard to thread one's way. At 
the door, which I finally reached, the people were coming 
out, and the guards informed me that the only entrance was 
on the other side. It was a long way, and not very pleasant ; 
but at last I gained the court, where the blessed pilgrims 
were permitted to enter. Two lines of men, women, and 
children, in single file, stretching far away into the dark- 
ness and into some remote part of the city, were marching 



PILGRIMAGE TO AIX-LA-CHAPELLE. 253 

steadily into the cathedral, saying their prayers aloud as 
they walked slowly, devout in their appearance, and full of 
anxiety to get a sight of the precious treasures within. The 
prayers they were repeating are prepared for this service, 
and have reference to the sacred relics whose sovereign 
virtues they are now hoping to enjoy. When the remains 
of President Lincoln were for one day and night exposed 
in the City Hall of New York, the public were admitted to 
view them, and the line extended some miles up town, and 
marched steadily into the park all night long. Except that 
procession of gazers, I never saw a crowd intent on such a 
sight to equal the number of these pilgrims. It was impos- 
sible to enter the cathedral under these circumstances, and 
I was told that by coming early the next morning I could 
be admitted alone. But the next morning the gates were 
closed aga^st all comers, and preparations were on foot for 
the grand septennial procession of the relics. The court 
and the streets leading to it were filled with rude benches, 
and thousands were seated where they could look with 
reverential awe on the cathedral in which these holy things 
were preserved. From the multitude there was rising on 
the air, like the sound of many waters, the voice of prayer. 
Away up one of the towers was a gallery passing around it, 
and on that gallery a procession of priests was making a 
frequent circuit, while the crowd gazed upwards with 
evident edification, as the holy utensils and the cross were 
borne aloft between them and heaven. There in the sun 
they sat, and thousands stood gazing and praying, the per- 
fect embodiment of superstition, and the easy dupes of a 
cunning priesthood. They were of the lowest class of the 
population, if we could judge correctly by their dress and 
appearance. Yet were they orderly and devout, and only 
when some special spectacle led them all to rush to get the 
best place was there any need of the many guards who 
were on hand at all times to prevent disorder. 



254 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

The grand procession was to emerge from the cathedral 
at two o'clock P.M. Then all these relics were to be 
carried in pomp in the hands and on the shoulders of the 
prelates through the streets of the city. " Good places to 
see the procession " were advertised for sale on the walls 
of the houses, and selecting one whose windows looked 
out upon the court of the cathedral and near its great 
door, I entered and hired half of one of the windows, taking 
a ticket that was to secure my seat when I returned. 

Thus sure of the wonderful privilege of seeing the 
wealth of holy things which had brought these thousands 
here, I went off, and " assisted " in a demonstration with 
the Sultan of Turkey. He was on his way home from 
England, and was expected to reach Aix-la-Chapelle in the 
evening. But in consequence of delays on the road he did 
not arrive until five o'clock in the morning. H^ was then 
escorted to the palace, a modest mansion which the King of 
Prussia occupies when he is here, a rare event. When the 
Sultan had taken a brief rest and breakfast, he was to de- 
part for Coblenz at ten a.m., and the better part of the 
city turned out to see him as he rode through the streets 
to the railroad. He is a much better-looking man than 
his predecessor on the Ottoman throne, whom I saw in 
Constantinople some years ago. This man is stout, short, 
grave, with heavy black beard, and very Turk in his ap- 
pearance. His visit to the west is regarded by his subjects 
as a part of the great work he is supposed by them to have 
on his hands, — the government of the world. To this day 
the most of them believe that France and England simply 
obeyed his orders when they came to the aid of the Sultan, 
and that he has now been out west to look after his prov- 
inces there. " 

In front of the palace and all along the streets dense 
masses of people pressed to get a sight ; two Romish 
priests stood by me, and were intensely curious to see 



PILGRIMAGE TO AIX-LA-CHAPELLE. ' 255 

the Turk. After a dozen carriages with his suite had 
passed, the state coach, with two fat horses and one very 
fat coachman, — coach, horses, and coachman covered with 
gold lace and trimmings, — came along with the solitary 
Sultan inside. The people sent up a very faint cheer, but 
he took no more notice of it than he would if the dogs had 
barked ; looked stolidly down into the coach and rode out 
of sight. 

At one P.M. I returned to my hired window. The 
crowd was vastly increased, dense masses of humanity 
filling every inch of space in sight of the line of march. 
But the court of the cathedral had been cleared, and a 
strong bar, guarded by soldiers, forbade the ingress of the 
multitude. The house where I was to enter was opposite 
to the door of the baptistery, and the whole court which 
was to be the scene of the great display was in full view 
from my window. I was early on the ground, and when I 
took possession of the humble chamber was the only 
person in it. To get to it I had to pass through the bed- 
room of the house, and in that was a double bed, two or 
three single beds, and a crib, in which the whole family 
slept side by side. Presently three Romish priests and two 
women entered, having also previously engaged places in 
this eligible apartment. The priests appeared to be intel- 
ligent men, and we conversed freely in French. They told- 
me they had come from Holland to see the holy relics, and 
to participate in the solemnities of the occasion, and were 
then going to make a tour in Germany. The women were 
travelling in company. Presently one of the priests took 
out his prayer-book, and, retiring to one side of the room, 
entered upon his devotions. One of the women called my 
attention to him, and, giving me a wink of the eye, put up 
her finger to the side of her nose, and expressed the great- 
est possible contempt of the man at prayer. She was very 
lively, sometimes put her foot on the table, slapped her 



256 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

sister on the back heartily, drank three glasses of beer, 
which the priests paid for, and said it was goot. 

A band of musicians arrived, and took their stand in 
the court. Officers in black dress with staves appeared. 
The crowd pressed more and more densely on the bar, and 
in the struggle to get nearer, I feared some would be 
crushed to death. In years past, there have been many 
disasters of that kind here. Roofs of houses, overloaded, 
have sunk down with their living burden. And as far as 
my eyes could see, the picturesque multitude swarmed and 
heaved. Many in blue blouses ; women with red shawls 
over their heads ; and every color was seen in their vari- 
egated costumes, yet none but the commonest of the 
common people were there. 

At two o'clock, a few horsemen rode into the crowd and 
opened a passage for the procession soon to emerge from 
the church. Where the people were to retire, how they 
could be compressed into a smaller space, it was impossi- 
ble to see. Walls on all sides, but down the streets they 
had to go, and, as they were pressed against the houses, 
fright was on the faces of many ; children were held up 
overhead to save them from being crushed ; closer and 
closer they were stowed away ; women put up their hands 
imploringly, but the horses tramped among them, and a 
way was at last cleared through the solid mass of human 
beings. It was not yet time for the procession to come 
out : this was only to let the officiating ecclesiastics, and 
servants bearing vestments, and boys in white with ban- 
ners to pass in. But the time wore on, and at last the 
bells began to ring, a cannon was fired, a strong sensation 
swayed the waiting multitude, there was a sound of martial 
music, there was the roar of the voices of the crowds who 
could not restrain their feelings, the door of the cathedral 
opened, and the great pageant began. 

In front marched a band of boys in white raiment, with 



PILGRIMAGE TO AIX-LA-CHAPELLE. 25/ 

banners in their hands ; a few Capuchin monks came next, 
in the coarse costume of their order ; then followed a com- 
pany of ecclesiastics, in white robes, with prayer-books in 
their hands, reading aloud as they walked ; a large number 
in red and gold embroidered robes followed ; a choir of young 
men singing ; a brass band, making fine music ; and then, 
wonderful to behold ! in the midst of all this pomp appeared 
the dignitaries of the church, gorgeously attired, and bear- 
ing in succession the various relics which have already 
been named. They were enclosed in glass, some of them, 
and others were in magnificent chests of gold and silver, 
borne aloft on the shoulders of six men each, and sur- 
rounded with the richest trappings, as if the wealth of the 
universe might well be lavished on such precious treasures 
as these. The sacred procession was greeted everywhere 
as it proceeded with the prayers of the people, kneeling 
while it passed them. It took its way up into the city, 
through various streets by a prescribed route, in the midst 
of living masses of people, the windows and roofs filled 
with anxious spectators, who might never see the like 
again, ' and thousands of whom had come from afar, and 
had never seen it before. The march was about an hour 
long, and then they returned to the same court. But the 
procession was now largely increased. Two hundred *' sis- 
ters," of some order, had joined in, dressed in white, and 
perhaps as many of another order, in black ; companies of 
infirm old men and women, as if from some asylum, and 
hundreds of lads in uniform, bearing flags, and four of 
them in white, with branches of lilies and green leaves in 
their hands. The procession entered the court, and, open- 
ing to the right and left, filled the area ; the holy relics were 
borne into the midst, while the vast company lifted up their 
voices in singing, the band played, the bells rung, the 
cannon roared. It was a mighty choir in the open air, 
under the walls of a cathedral that had stood there a 

17 



258 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

thousand years ; the vast multitude were hushed to si- 
lence to hear the music of this holy band of monks and 
priests and women and children, and while the whole 
atmosphere was full of song, the pageant passed into the 
temple. 

My companions at the windows, the priests and their 
women, took leave of me, as they were in haste to take the 
railroad for Cologne. I stepped down into the court, and 
on the heels of the procession entered the cathedral. The 
relics were deposited in the holy places ; the great golden 
chests were placed in front of the altar, and high mass 
was celebrated with the splendor of ceremonial becoming 
this great occasion. 

When the procession was finished, the holy relics in their 
several repositories for another seven^ years, and mass duly 
celebrated, I returned to the hotel to dinner. About twenty 
persons were at the table. On my right sat a party of 
French people, gentlemen and ladies, and the fun they 
made of what they had seen on the street was immense. 
They ridiculed as ludicrous in the extreme, and as the 
very height of absurdity and nonsense, the idea that the 
clothes and sponge and garments worn two thousand 
years ago, and constantly exposed to air and all the 
chances and changes of these eighteen centuries, should 
be here to-day in good condition ; and, of course, the 
priests and church came in for a good share of denun- 
ciation. In front of me, and on my left, was an English- 
speaking party, the central and principal personage in the 
group being an English priest. His garb was that of 
Rome, and his conversation was becoming his garb ; but 
whether he had ever been received into the full communion 
of Holy Mother, or was only aping her manners and wearing 
her vestments, it is impossible to say. It makes little 
difference, however. He was disgusted by the infidelity 
of these French people, and, supposing none at the table 



PILGRIMAGE TO AIX-LA-CHAPELLE. 259 

understood the English, he went on to say that it was 
highly improper to come into a foreign country and ridi- 
cule the customs and faith of the people. "For my part," 
said he, " I think they are very stupid, as well as very ill- 
bred, to make such remarks at a public table where there 
are others who hold these relics in high honor as memo- 
rials of their holy religion." The ladies of the party joined 
him fully in these sentiments, and, to my surprise, I soon 
discovered that the two ladies between whom he was 
sitting, and whom he always addressed as " My dear," 
were both Americans, and evidently destined to become, 
if they had not already, excellent Romans. All of them, 
and the party was six or seven in number, had been gazing 
on. the same spectacle that I had seen with mingled indig- 
nation and pity, and these enlightened, cultivated English 
and American people received the whole exposition as a 
glorious manifestation to their eyes of the veritable ob- 
jects that were used at the time and in the midst of the 
scenes of the sufferings and death of our blessed Lord, 
and, therefore, justly to be held in reverence by all the 
faithful in all coming time. 

Pictures of the relics were for sale in all the shops, and I 
bought a few as souvenirs of my pilgrimage. Particularly 
I sought for a good representation of that one which is first 
on the list and first in the admiration of the people. As 
the Virgin Mother Mary is held in higher honor by all good 
Catholics than the Son of God himself, so they likewise 
venerate with a deeper reverence the linen garment that 
she wore than the cloth which was around the loins of the 
Saviour on the cross. Having found two or three good 
copies of this peculiar garment, my curiosity was gratified 
to see the style which the ladies of Judea wore it in the 
year of our Lord i and onwards. Fashions change, and 
with the ladies they change more frequently than among 
the other sex. But the Virgin's " linen garment " is exactly 



260 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

in the form and pattern of those in use in modern times. 
It has short sleeves, reaching but a Uttle over the shoulder ; 
it has a lace frill or something of the sort around the neck, 
with a place for drawing strings in front. It looks, in fact, 
like any other shirt with the sleeves cut off. 

Now, just imagine, if you can, a company of fine-looking 
men, fifty or sixty years old, in gorgeous costume, with the 
symbols of priesthood and the pomp of kings, marching 
through the streets of a city, and bearing aloft, for the admira- 
tion of a gaping multitude, an old shirt. That is the mild- 
est way of putting it ! That the Virgin Mary ever had it 
on, there is not the slightest possible reason to suppose. 
That such garments were then worn is contradicted by our 
knowledge of the costume of the Orientals of the present 
and former times. But to argue the question is as absurd 
as to believe in the shirt. Faith in these relics comes not 
by reason or argument, but is hereditary, blind, morbid, and 
against the senses. To doubt is fatal, and nobody here 
doubts. They believe in the holy linen of Mary, her girdle, 
the rope, the sponge, Bartholomew's hair, Thomas' teeth, 
Simeon's arm, St. Catherine's oil, Stephen's rib, Peter's 
chain, and the child Jesus' crib. If they believe in these 
things, what will they not beheve ? And English and 
American men and women come here and profess their 
faith in the whole ! 

Pilgrimages to this shrine have been made for the last 
six or seven hundred )^ears. The number of believers 
crowding in at one time has sometimes been so great that 
it was found necessary to shut the gates of the city in order 
t© prevent the increase. Every pilgrim was expected to 
pay a penny, and in one year these amounted to 80,000 
florins, or 1,600,000 pence. In that year 142,000 persons 
were present in one day. In that period the numbers 
were so great that separate quarters of the town were 
assigned to different nationalities, and they were allowed to 



PILGRIMAGE TO AIX-LA-CHAPELLE. 26 1 

see the relics in their turn. They approached the relics on 
their knees, and in regular order, each bearing a pure wax 
candle. Great preparations were required to feed these 
multitudes, and it is not to be wondered at that it was 
found too much of a job to have this thing going on every 
year. Once in seven is certainly quite often enough. But 
the same forms and ceremonies of opening and displaying 
the treasures have been preserved from age to age. The 
exhibition begins July loth and terminates July 24th. The 
rush became so great at one time that it was determined to 
dispense with the farce. But the inhabitants of the city, who, 
like the Diana smiths, make great gains out of the pilgrims, 
raised such a clamor that the show was resumed ; and it is 
now as fixed in the routine of rehgious rites in this Protes- 
tant country of Prussia as. the toting of the Pope on men's 
shoulders at Christmas in Rome. Once in seven years the 
people flock hither for two weeks in July, and on the 24th 
the grand procession takes place. 

But if the sight of these relics does the souls of the 
pilgrims no good, you may rest assured that the waters of 
these fountains will prove a Siloam to you if you have gout, 
rheumatism, or any cutaneous disease. Perhaps it is not 
well for me to prescribe without knowing the pecuHar 
symptoms of your case ; but for so many centuries have 
these waters been flowing for the healing of the people, 
that I have great faith in their secret virtues. Over the 
principal fountain is a temple, and from it extends a covered 
walk. The visitors take the water early in the morning, 
and, as it is too hot to drink off at once, they walk up and 
down, glass in hand, sipping as they go. Near by is the 
garden where, under shade-trees and by the side of foun- 
tains, they sit and chat, or hsten to sweet music which the 
band discourses. As I was lounging here, a young English- 
man was helped in by his sisters, and he was placed near 
me, so that I heard all their conversation concerning his 



262 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

progress toward being cured. Then a lady on two crutches 
hobbled in, and, arranging herself as comfortably as her 
evident lameness would permit, sought a little rest from 
pain. An elderly man with his leg in splinters had two 
servants to hold him up, and his condition seemed to sug- 
gest that the waters were sought even for the benefit of 
broken limbs. The variety of diseases is not so great 
perhaps as at other springs ; but the gouty, the lame, and 
the halt, seem to lie around among these orange-trees, 
flowery shrubs, gravel walks, and cool shades. But by far 
the greater part of the visitors to the springs come for 
pleasure only. There is a large KiLrhaus, in which are rooms 
for concerts and balls, for reading and conversation, and in 
the court a beautiful garden, into which subscribers are 
admitted. There the ladies take their work or their book, 
and, around little tables on which is a cup of tea or glass of 
light wine, they spend the afternoon, the gentlemen smoking 
if they please, and an orchestra of splendid performers play- 
ing. It is a scene of social and elegant ease, the do Ice far 
niente to perfection, with really more enjoyment in it than 
is often to be found where people have nothing to do. 
There is no gambling here, and that drives off a class of 
men and women that infest every watering-place where 
gaming-tables are licensed. The company is therefore 
select, compared with the Badens and Homburg. And the 
baths are splendid. They are furnished at all the hotels, and 
there are establishments specially fitted up for them. Into 
■one of these I went to enjoy the luxury. Each bath has a 
dressing-room adjoining it, out of which when ready you 
go down four or five stone steps into a large cemented 
bath, while the water from two large pipes is pouring in. 
On a stone bench at one end of the bath you sit down till 
the water comes up to your chin, and then it ceases to flow. 
At first the smell of sulphur is strong ; but this ceases to 
be disagreeable. The temperature is perfect, the water 



PILGRIMAGE TO AIX-LA-CHAPELLE. 263 

abundant, plenty of towels, and a sheet besides, and the 
price is about 25 cents. I enjoyed it exceedingly, and com- 
mend it before all other bathing establishments this side of 
Turkey. 

The antiquary finds much to interest him in this old 
town. It is something to be where Charlemagne was born 
and buried, and to see the works of his mighty hand ; to 
visit the town-house, a tower of which still bears the name 
of Granus, a brother of Nero, who is said to have built it, 
and to have founded the city 124 years after Christ. In 
this house is a great hall, where for many successive cen- 
turies the Emperors of Germany were crowned. In front 
of it is a statue of Charlemagne, and the priests carry a 
silver bust of him in their septennial procession, with a bit 
of his skull in the top of it. 



264 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

FRANKFORT. 

'"\T 7ITH faces at last fairly turned towards Russia, we 
^ ^ stopped to rest for a day at the old town of Frankfort 
— the Ford of the Franks, Towards evening I wandered 
out to an old graveyard. 

Like some in our own cities, it had ceased to be used for 
interments, and its walks and shade and vacant squares 
had become places of recreation for the children of the 
town. The gates were never shut, and, indeed, the walls 
were broken, so that it was a public. square for the living 
rather than a quiet resting-place for the dead. A party of 
little folks were amusing themselves with children's plays, 
and I paused in my solitary stroll to see them go through 
the old-time game of " Oats, peas, beans, and barley grow," 
the same that our children from generation to generation 
play with so much zest on the grass or the carpet at home. 
It was pleasant to know that the young ones, in another 
language, were singing the same simple song that millions 
on the other side of the sea have sung and will sing in 
their childish glee. It was a queer place for children to 
make a playground. Our children would not fancy it. The 
Germans have more pleasing associations with the burial- 
places of their dead than we have. They indulge in cheer- 
ful sentimentalism more than we do, in this direction. 
These old graves are covered with flowering shrubs ; some 
of them are cared for by the children or friends of the 
sleepers who have been here so many years' that their names 



FRANKFORT. 26$ 

might be forgotten but for the tombstones. I read the in- 
scriptions on many, and sought and found names famihar 
in history. 

One grave was covered with wreaths and flowers. Yet 
it was an old grave, and evidently some special interest 
attached to it. I drew near and read in German, — 

"The Grave of the Mother of Goethr. Born Feb. 
19, 1731. Died Sept. 13, 1808.' 

It was her request that this inscription should be put 
upon her headstone. The mother's pride is in it, but so 
beautiful and so just ! No man of this century has wrought 
himself more thoroughly into the German mind, and only 
one writer has led captive more minds in the world at large, 
than Johan Wolfgang Von Goethe, whose mother lies under 
this brick wall, with deep shade-trees hanging over her 
grave, and fresh flowers lying on it, though she was laid 
here sixty years ago. " From my dear little mother," said 
the poet in one of his poems, '' I derive my happy dispo- 
sition and my love of story-telling." And she said of her- 
self, " Order and quiet are my chracteristics. I despatch 
at once what I have to do, the most disagreeable always 
first, and I gulp down the devil without looking at him. I 
always seek out what is good in people, and leave what is 
bad to Him who made mankind, and knows how to round 
off the angles." 

If this saying of Goethe's mother could be told in all the 
world as a memorial of her, it is quite likely it would do as 
much for the good of mankind as all that her son ever 
wrote, though he was the prince of German poets, and the 
master intellect of the age. 

His coffin lies in the Duke's vault at Weimar, or did 
when I was there, by the side of Schiller, and not by the 
side of the Duke, as royal etiquette forbade, even in the 
grave, such common dust as that of these two great poets to 



266 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

be laid along with that of royal clay. Yet the Duke is 
more honored by having had the friendship of the poets 
than by his crown or kingdom. 

Twelve years after the birth of Goethe's mother, in 1743, 
a Jew was born in Frankfort, whose name and power in 
the world are quite as great as that of the poet. It is a 
question for the debating societies, whether money or mind 
rules in this age ; but there is little doubt that the Roths- 
childs have been more of a power in Europe during the 
present century than Goethe and all the poets put together. 
This man was named Anselm. He had five daughters and 
five sons : all of the sons becoming bankers like the father, 
and establishing themselves in various cities, London, Paris, 
Vienna, and Frankfort, came to control the finances of 
Europe, and to wield an influence before which the con- 
querors of kingdoms were often compelled to bow. They 
furnish one good lesson that is rarely mentioned or thought 
of : the father and five sons, and their children, have con- 
tinued in one firm, — the five brothers were at one time the 
firm, — and, thus standing by one another, have been strong 
and prosperous ; in this particular, Jews as they are, they 
set an example for Christians to follow. So great is their 
wealth and credit, that when the revolutions of 1848 in 
Europe instantly robbed them of forty millions of dollars, 
it did not disturb them, nor the confidence of the world in 
their stabiUty. Kings and emperors are their guests as 
well as their customers ; and this summer, one of them on 
the banks of Lake Leman, and another at his palace in 
Paris, has entertained royalty in right regal style. To us 
sovereigns in our own right, this is nothing very remark- 
able; but here, in the land of kings and princes, it is a 
matter always of wonderment, and it is also just a little 
detriment to dignity, when a crowned head condescends to 
eat off the plate of anybody but a brother of blue blood. 

This old city of Frankfort has had its ancestral pride 



FRANKFORT. 26/ 

sadly humbled in being swallowed by all-devouring Prussia. 
A lady said to me, " I hate the Prussians ; I know it is not 
very Christian, but I do hate them ; and I believe the royal 
family will be poisoned yet ! " This venerable city was 
once the capital of the German empire, the seat of its 
Congress ; here the German emperors were elected, for 
successive generations. The glory that invests a spot so 
sacred has now departed ; and the firm pohcy of Bismark, 
and the unification of Germany, have reduced the proud 
old town to one of the many second-rate cities of Europe. 
A city, now-a-days, cannot live on the past. Trade and 
travel will not obey traditions. Frankfort still holds a 
financial importance that is fast passing away ; and more 
people will linger here for a day to see the marble Ariadne, 
by Danneker, than to visit the " Hall of the Caesars," where 
the portraits of the emperors are hung. 

We left by rail at nine in the morning. The cars were 
large, convenient, and elegant. For first-class passengers 
they were divided into apartments for six, and were lined 
with red plush. The second class were quite as good, but 
lined with drab ; and the chief difference was in the price, 
which, being high in the first class, makes the company 
more select. In all the cars smoking \^ allowed, unless notice 
is posted on the outside to the contrary. In our compart- 
ment, which was one of the interdicted^ there were three 
ladies and as many men, only one of them a smoker ; and 
he kept on, regardless of the notice and the company. The 
third-class cars had plain board seats with no backs ; but they 
were clean, and very decent-looking people rode in them. 
A fourth class were like our cattle cars, only not so good, 
for ours are well ventilated, whereas these were close, and 
were filled with dirty people, standing up, and getting what 
air they could through one or two little windows. Yet 
these people were generally smoking, their poverty com- 
pelling them to ride like cattle, but not prevailing to make 
them give up tobacco. 



268 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

We passed through large pine forests. Wind-mills were" 
frequent, as they are in flat countries, where no waterfall 
power can be had. Women were at work repairing the 
railroads ; showing that here woman has her " rights," as 
the women reformers call the privilege of doing any thing 
that men do. Of course they are degraded, as they will be 
with us just as fast as public sentiment allows them to 
assume the duties that do not belong to their sex. The 
waiting-rooms at the stations are restaurants also, and beer 
is guzzled incessantly. Little children drink beer with 
their parents. 

Vast tracts of level country are on our right and left. 
Not a hill is in sight. The scenery is uninterrupted prairie. 
Passengers are informed, by notice posted in the cars, that 
they can have a dinner served at certain stations ahead, 
and that the conductors will send on the order by telegraph 
without charge. At all the stations cake and beer are 
passed along by waiters at the windows of the cars, and you 
may take in the dishes if you please, and leave them at the 
next station. 

Fraiikfort-o7t-thc-Oder is a venerable town of 37,000 in- 
habitants, memorable as the scene of a great battle in 1759, 
when Frederick the Great was defeated by the Russians 
and Austrians. We crossed the Oder at Castion, the 
bridge being strongly fortified, as if war were imminent or 
guns relied on as the best peace preservers. Immense 
tracts of peat-beds are on the route, and women are at 
work wheeling heavy loads of it just cut out, and men cut- 
ting it, the women being made to do the hardest work. 

At Krewz we stopped for dinner. We had sent forward 
our names by telegraph, and were curious to see what was 
the result. It proved to be a good soup, a stew of beef and 
potatoes, roast veal with stewed prunes, and the usual con- 
diments, but no dessert or wine, unless extra. The tables 
for dinner were set out on the platform, under shade, and 



FRANKFORT. 



269 



every thing neat and clean, and the table furniture good. 
Beautiful gardens are around the railroad stations : large 
peonies and lilacs, seringas and roses, and other flowers like 
our own, in full bloom. We met an excursion train with 




Frankfort Dinner-Table. 

two or three hundred people, who had left the cars at a 
way-station to get water ; and as our train came between 
them and theirs, they were thrown into the greatest alarm 
and confusion, lest they should be left behind. The cot- 
tages of the peasantry are very neat and comfortable ; no 
signs of great poverty, no beggars at the stations, I have 



270 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

scarcely been solicited by a beggar in Germany. As we 
are going north, the country appears less fertile : there is 
more grass and less grain ; few fruit-trees, some apples, 
cherries, and pears ; poplar trees, sycamores, and some wil- 
lows are seen. We have ceased to see forests on the line of 
the road : we pass another peat-bed, and a dozen women 
are working it, one man overseeing them. 

At Nakal twenty peasants were standing, each with a 
staff in hand, as if they had just arrived from a journey on 
foot, and were waiting for a train to take them on to the 
seaboard to emigrate. They were swarthy, stout, and well 
clad. They will all be voters soon on the other side of the 
sea. 

Two hundred miles from Berlin, on our way to Warsaw, 
we came to Bromberg. We had marked it down as the half- 
way place, and here we were to pass the night. We found 
an elegant railroad station ; porters from three hotels, with 
plates on their hats, begged the pleasure of our company at 
their respective houses. The Englischer Hqf h.3.d the honor 
of taking us in, and we were hospitably and comfortably 
cared for. This city was once in Poland. When the kingdom 
was carved and partitioned, this fell to Prussia. But Polish 
names predominate upon the signs, and the Polish language 
still prevails. Its trade is in wool and iron and steel, by canal 
connecting it with Oder and Wexsel. W^e went to the top of 
a hill near the hotel, and found beautiful walks and seats, 
commanding fine views of the town. The churches are both 
Protestant and Catholic. We were near a cemetery, and all 
the tombstones had their inscriptions in Hebrew. It was a 
Jewish burial-place. Adjoining it was a dead-house, into 
which every dead person of this people is brought, and 
washed, and ceremonially prepared for the grave. A young 
man showed us over the apartments. He seemed to be the 
solitary dweller in this gloomy house. A fine monument in 
the grove near by is in memory of the good citizen who had 



FRANKFORT. 2/1 

given the grounds, and embellished them, as a resort for the 
people. 

Only in Germany have we had bolsters in shape of a 
wedge, hard, and designed to be laid with the edge under the 
shoulders, making an inclined plane, from which one is 
slipping down all the time. The old feather-bed comforter 
on top is now dispensed with ; but in place of it is a quilt 
inside of a sheet, like a bag to hold it, and a very uncom- 
fortable thing to manage. It requires a deal of patience to 
put up with the curious ways of other people ; but when 
one gets used to them, they are just as well as his own. 

We were to take an early start, and the servant was so 
anxious to do his whole duty, that he called us, as Samuel 
the prophet was called, three times in the course of the 
night, and finally succeeded in getting us out an hour too 
soon. But that was better than to be an hour too late, and 
so we had breakfast, and were off again by the rail at six in 
the morning. By eight we were at the frontier of Poland, 
now Russia. Our passports were demanded, and our baggage 
searched. Even the little bags were taken out of the cars 
and examined. The only article sought for was tobacco, 
and nobody ever found a bit of that in any luggage of mine. 
At the station signs of progress were evident. Carts drawn 
by oxen were loaded with brick, each brick twice as large as 
one of ours. Large iron pipes for aqueducts were lying 
around. A photographic apparatus, of a pattern quite novel 
to me, was in use, taking views of the works going on. The 
names of all the passengers were copied from their passports 
into a register ; the passports were returned to their several 
owners, then each passenger was asked if he had his pass- 
port, and, the formality being over, we were allowed to pro- 
ceed after an hour's detention. 

We are now travelUng in Poland. We soon pass misera- 
ble dwellings, half under ground, and with stagnant water 
about them, giving every appearance of unhealthiness and 



272 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. ' 

wretchedness. Yet the country was better tilled than in 
Northern Germany. We are now on the Vistula. At one 
of the stations we saw a meeting of friends, men kissing 
each other ; young people stooped down, and old men kissed 
them on the back of their heads. Elegant parks and gar- 
dens surrounded the villa of the Princess Racziwill. For 
centuries it has been the residence of the titled and rich. 

At half-past three p.m. we arrived at Warsaw. All the 
passengers, as they left the cars, were required to give up 
their passports again ; were led into a room where all ingress 
and egress was cut off ; here to each person was given a 
receipt for his passport, and he was required to give the 
name of the house at which he intended to stay, also to 
state when he expected to leave. He was then allowed to 
go. At the door a metal check was handed him, having on 
it the number of the hack in which he would ride ; and thus, 
with a deep conviction that we are at last in a country 
where we are to be looked after, we were taken to our 
hotel. 



WARSAW. 273 



CHAPTER XXII. 

WARSAW. 

/^N the banks of the Danube, but just where the story 
^^ does not say, and when it is quite uncertain, lived three 
brothers, whose names were Lekh, Teckh, and Russ. They 
were of the Slavonian race. Ambitious to found distinct 
dynasties of their own, they set off on their travels. Pres- 
ently, three eagles appeared, flying in as many directions, 
and the brothers instantly agreed to follow the birds and 
the example. Russ went after one of the eagles, and the 
region he went into he called Russia ; Teckh went to 
Bohemia, whose people were anciently called Teckhs ; and 
Lekh, led by a white eagle, came to Poland. The people 
adopted the white eagle as their national emblem, and they 
were called Polekhs, or Polaks, and in Shakespeare the 
people of Poland are Polaks. In some parts of this country 
the Poles are yet called Lekhs. The great importance of 
this recondite history is not very apparent ; but it is enough 
to intimate that the origin of nations is often involved in 
obscurity, and this is specially true of these northern 
peoples. 

The history of Poland, through its early centuries down 
to 1772, is one of the most romantic in the "book of time." 
With the coming of the Jesuits into Poland came trouble, 
as trouble always comes with those pests of the human race. 
War with Russia followed, and the Polish territory east of 
the Dnieper, or Little Russia, was subjected to the Czar ; 
and by and by, when the kingdom of Poland lay at the 
mercy of three surrounding powers, it was " partitioned " 

18 



2/4 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

between Russia and Prussia and Austria. This was but the 
beginning of her trials. Never conquered, though always 
overcome, fighting for independent existence again and 
again, she has in her death-struggles shown a tenacity of 
life that has commanded the admiring sympathy of man- 
kind. Three times she has been divided among these de- 
vouring kingdoms ; and at the settlement of 1815, after the 
battle of Waterloo, when a new map of Europe was made, 
it was decided that a part of Poland, Galicia, should belong 
to Austria, Posen to Prussia, and the large part which 
Napoleon had made into the Duchy of Warsaw, should be a 
constitutional monarchy under the Russian Emperor as 
King. In 1830 the Poles made another insurrection, and 
when crushed they were deprived of their constitution, 
their language was proscribed, and the last vestige of their 
nationality was beaten out. 

There is a savage wickedness in this cutting up of nations, 
that does not touch the moral sentiment of the world as it 
ought. To murder a man is something palpable, and so 
obviously damnable. But to blot a nation out of being, to 
strike down the life of a people and bury it out of sight for 
ever, this is what has been done for poor Poland, and we 
have only to drop a tear over her grave, enter a protest in 
the name of human rights, and pass on. The most exten- 
sive portion of ancient Poland is under Russia, the most 
populous in the grasp of Austria, and the most commercial 
is held by Prussia. Warsaw is the unwilling serf of Russia. 
The present Emperor has sought to gild the chains that bind 
this people ; but the iron chafes them, and will. He restored 
their language and schools ; a council of state was formed ; 
all the local officers were Poles. But nothing will satisfy a 
noble race but to be their own masters: in 1863 Warsaw 
was again in insurrection ; the men rushed to arms, the 
women to the altars ; the streets ran blood, the weak sank 
under the strong, and the end came. 



WARSAW. 275 

The city of Warsaw has nearly 200,000' inhabitants. It 
is a well-built town, modern in its appearance, with many 
of its streets straight, and having large and handsome 
houses. It stands on the Vistula. It is more gay and 
attractive than you would expect to find it, under the heel 
of an oppressor, and after years of fruitless struggle with a 
crushing power. On every hand we see the signs of the 
ruler's presence, in the persons of his armed deputies, the 
soldiers of Russia, who are here to keep order in Warsaw. 
In our hotel, the dining-room is always occupied by soldiers, 
who are eating and drinking, especially drinking. " Sherry 
cobblers " in quart tumblers are in front of them, and they 
are sucking at them diligently. Venice, under Austrian 
rule, was not more vigilantly guarded than Warsaw is at 
this day, after a subjugation that has been endured for forty 
years ! It will take two or three generations to make 
Poland contented under foreign rule, and then the heredi- 
tary love of nationality will remain, and rise to the surface 
whenever it gets a chance for demonstration. 

The city has a very unfinished appearance : there are 
splendid public edifices near by others that seem only begun, 
or neglected in the midst of building. Revolutions and the 
fears of revolution have made its prosperity precarious, and 
the inhabitants lack the highest stimulus to enterprise and 
exertion, the hope of permanent possession and enjoyment. 
The splendid government houses are in many cases the 
palaces of the old Polish nobility, now decayed or extinct 
families. Many of the former owners, who once rolled in 
hereditary wealth, have long since been exiled to the deso- 
late wilds of Siberia, and their places will never know them 
again. A pall, like a perpetual cloud, is on the face of 
Poland, and by degrees the spirit of liberty will be ex- 
tinguished. The language and rule of Russia will become 
universal. There is no hope in the future for the nation- 
ality of Poland. 



2/6 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

In 1863 a spy of the Russian government was stopping 
at the Hotel de V Europe in Warsaw, where we are now 
writing ; and, his business being suspected, the patriotic 
Poles, who are not likely to abide the presence of such a 
fellow if they know him, took the liberty of murdering him 
in his bed. The Russian government seized the house, 
shut it up, and for some years it has stood closed, a monu- 
ment and a warning. Russia will not allow her spies to be 
murdered without visiting her vengeance on the house itself 
in which the murder is committed. As this hotel was for- 
merly the palace of one of the noble Polish families, and 
the only hotel of large proportions, it was a serious injury 
to the city as well as to the proprietors. And I do not 
apprehend that the Poles will be any more gentle in their 
treatment of Russian spies, because their largest tavern was 
shut up half a dozen years. 

Out of my window I see a soldier standing with his back 
against the wall ; he has a soldier's cap and long cloak 
reaching nearly to the ground ; he has been there five or • 
six hours, marching now and then a few rods and returning 
to his post : five soldiers come and stand in front of him, 
one of them takes off the cloak and puts it on his own 
shoulders, and, stepping into his place, mounts guard ; and 
this process is continued and repeated all over the city, day 
and night, year after year. Thousands of Russian soldiers 
are thus quartered on the city continually : lazy, intemperate, 
and licentious, they are a moral pestilence ; using their 
power to compel the subject people to submit to their inso- 
lence, and corrupting by their example and association those 
with whom they come into contact. 

With this admixture of foreign and native people, it is 
impossible to discriminate between them ; but a more un- 
mannerly set of people I have never met at public places ^^ 
than they are here. The servants have no manners but ^H 
bad manners. They enter your private room without ^ 




WARSAW. 277 

knocking ; they are grouty in their address, sulky in their 
answers, and generally disagreeable. The same may be 
said of the officers of the hotel : disobliging, inattentive. 
The women appeared to be lively in each other's company, 
but the men of Warsaw are grave and thoughtful. 

We rode in the afternoon through the beautiful parks 
and meadows and groves where the Russian military exer- 
cises are held, and through the Botanical Gardens, and to 
the Observatory, for the pursuit of science has not been 
arrested by the revolutions that have overturned the govern- 
ment ; and then we came to Lazienki, a splendid rural 
palace, built by King Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski. 
PI ere the Emperor of Russia has his temporary abode when 
he visits Warsaw, which, by the v^^ay, he does not often, 
for his presence is not specially agreeable to the people. 
Beautiful villas are scattered through the park, the resi- 
dences of persons connected with the court ; fountains 
lay, a beautiful stream flows by, and a monument to Sobi- 
eski, John IIP of Poland, stands conspicuous, the sight of 
which is said to have led the Emperor Nicholas, in 1850, 
after the war in Hungary, to make the remark : " The 
two kings of Poland that committed the gravest error are 
John IIP and myself ; for we both saved the Austrian mon- 
archy."- It is hard to say whether such reflections are 
sound or not ; the rise and fall of kingdoms are all in the 
plans of Infinite Wisdom, and what to us seems exceedingly 
desirable may be the height of folly in the eye of Him who 
reads the future. It is certainly not human wisdom that 
has spared Austria or Turkey and sacrificed Poland, but the 
end may yet be well. 

It was dark when we returned to the city. A feeble 
attempt at illumination was going on in some of the public 
buildings. Dim lights were hung along some of the walls, 
and now and then a private house had an extra lamp or two 
in its windows ! We inquired the cause of this miserable 



278 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

imitation of rejoicing, this abortive demonstration. The 
telegraph had brought the intelhgence that to-day an unsuc- 
cessful attempt had been made to assassinate the Emperor 
Alexander. The illumination was thus very satisfactorily 
and exactly explained. The assassination was attempted 
by a Polander, and Poland would have madly rejoiced if it 
had been a success. I was at a loss to know whether the 
illumination signified joy at the Emperor's escape from death 
or joy that his death had been so nearly accomplished. The 
melancholy exhibition of lights was just enough to suggest 
the two conflicting sentiments ; and if the Russian soldiers 
and officials and dependants did their duty in hanging out 
the lamps, the inhabitants of Warsaw almost without excep- 
tion will go to bed regretting that the shot of the assassin 
did not lodge in the heart of the Emperor whom they regard 
as their oppressor. 

The streets of Warsaw are badly paved ; riding in some 
of them is a protracted punishment. They are badly lighted, 
and it is not unusual for an ordinance to be in force requir- 
ing every one going out after dark to carry a light, under 
pain of arrest. 

The first drunken person I saw in the streets of a city on 
the Continent of Europe was here. In the southern capi- 
tals, as of Spain and Italy, and even of France, there was 
gayety, but not intemperance. I had not been long in the 
city before I saw a woman lying on the pavement dead 
drunk. And nobody seemed to heed the spectacle, always 
and everywhere disgusting as the most shameful exhibition 
of fallen humanity. They have their favorite vices in the 
south of Europe, but this of drunkenness is not one of 
them. The use of wine, light wine, is not the cause of the 
sobriety of the people, though it is a fact beyond all denial 
that the wine-growing countries are the most temperate 
countries in the world. Yet they are not temperate because 
they have wine to drink. They would be just as temperate, 



WARSAW. 279 

and perhaps more so, if they had no wine. They are tem- 
perate because the chmate does not invite them to the 
stimuhis of alcohol. That's all. It is not their virtue, nor 
their wine, that makes them so. They are not tempted to 
drink strong drink. As soon as we get into these northern 
countries we find the people making free use of distilled 
liquors and getting drunk: and intemperance is the pre- 
vailing vice of the clime, as licentiousness is the vice of the 
south of Europe. Climate is to be considered in all our 
studies of the habits of a people, and it must be allowed its 
proper effect when we are estimating the virtues and vices 
of our fellow-men. Climate is no excuse for wrong-doing, 
but it helps to know why people fall into one or another 
class of sins. 

On Sunday, after searching in vain to find the English 
service which was said to be performed in an evangelical 
chapel by a clergyman of the Church of England, we went 
to the Lutheran Church. Its dome, rising from an open 
square, is a prominent object in the city. The building 
itself is a rotunda, and very large. The yard was filled with 
all sorts of carriages, wagons, droskies, and carts, with 
horses of various grades, by which the people had come in 
from the surrounding country. Some of these vehicles were 
the rudest kind of rustic wagons, and being covered with 
mud, and filled with straw as the only seat, having no springs, 
and long and narrow, indicated that the roads were bad, and 
that the people had encountered some difficulties in getting 
to the house of God. It is rare to see such a show of 
teams about a city church. It was all the more interesting 
in Warsaw, in the heart of the old kingdom of Poland. 

I entered the porch, and it was crowded by people unable 
to get into the thronged church. Looking over their heads, 
I saw three successive galleries rising above each other ; 
and, following the winding staircase in the vestibule, we 
reached the first, and, unable to get admission there, we 



280 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

mounted to the second, which was also full, and then to 
the third, where there was plenty of room. A singularly 
imposing spectacle was presented. The vast audience-room 
was a perfect circle ; the three galleries sweeping com- 
pletely around to the pulpit and organ behind it. The 
pews on the ground floor were occupied by a class of persons 
by their dress and manner more elevated in rank than the 
others. The pew doors were kept locked, until the sermon 
was to be commenoed, when they were opened, and the 
crowd in the porch were permitted to take those not occu- 
pied by their owners. The first gallery pews were filled 
with plainer people. The second gallery had a set of wor- 
shippers whose coarse and humble attire indicated the 
harder worked and poorer people ; but their dress was 
cleanly, and an air of comfort pervaded the whole assembly. 
The third gallery, into which I found access, was not 
seated, and the few persons in it stood at the front. It was 
a sublime spectacle, this crowded sanctuary, perhaps three 
thousand people, worshipping in a strange tongue, and all 
animated with the spirit of the hour. Behind the pulpit 
was a life-size statue of the Saviour on the cross. In front 
of it four immense candles, each four feet high, were burn- 
ing. These candles and statue would lead us to suppose 
that the Lutheran was not wholly reformed, and that some 
relics of Romanism still lingered. The minister read a 
hymn, and around the organ a large choir of young men 
and boys, no females in it, stood up and sang, — the whole 
assembly, men and women, — with the organ, singing with 
a mighty noise. The sermon followed. The Polish is not 
one of the tongues with which I am familiar, and I shall 
not undertake to pass an opinion upon the eloquence or the 
orthodoxy of the discourse. But the clear rich tones of the 
preacher's voice fell upon attentive ears, and the earnest- 
ness of his manner spoke well for him, though I could not 
understand a word. 



WARSAW. 281 

At the door, as I came out, there was a row of mendi- 
cants, not asking alms, but willing and expecting to receive 
the charities of those who passed, and they were remem- 
bered by many. It was an inoffensive way of begging. 
Whoever gave was moved to do a good thing without being 
importuned. 

The principal streets of the city had as many people in 
them, going to and from church, as you would see in New 
York, and so widely do the fashions of Paris prevail in the 
west and east and north, that the fashionable people of War- 
saw, riding or walking, looked to be the same sort of people 
that one meets in cities with which he is more familiar. 

I walked into the Jewish quarter of the town. Their 
Sabbath was yesterday ; but to-day is one of their feast- 
days, and they were all out of doors, "a peculiar people" 
everywhere. The men wore long frock-coats reaching to 
the ground. Their dwellings were mostly mean and low ; 
but we saw women going in and out of them dressed in rich 
silks, with splendid velvet mantillas, and they were doubtless 
as Avell off for this world as their people seem to be in all 
countries where they have a chance to live and trade. They 
have the best hospital in Warsaw. They retain their 
nationality, the expression of countenance, the curve of the 
nose, the faculty of making and keeping money wherever 
they go. And they are strangely hated in the Christian 
world since they crucified the Lord of Glory, as the serpent 
has been among men since he tempted the woman in Eden. 
Of the five or six millions of people in Poland, nearly one 
million are Jews. This is a large proportion, perhaps larger 
than any other country in Europe. 

There are only' about 300,000 Protestants in Poland, and 
when you learn that of the Russian or Greek church there 
are but five or six thousand, out of the five or six miUions, 
you will see one grand reason why Poland will never be 
submissive to the rule of Russia. Their religions are at 



282 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

war. Poland is intensely bigoted in its Romanism. In the 
public square we see a statue of the Virgin Mary, with an 
iron railing around it ; flowers in pots are kept before it, 
lamps by night are burning in its presence, tumblers of oil 
with lighted wicks in them, and an old woman to light them 
as often as the wind blows them out, and here the people 
are constantly coming and throwing themselves down on 
the stones and saying their prayers : one young man was 
so earnest in his devotions, that he prayed with a loud 
voice, regardless of those around him, as if he knew the 
statue was quite deaf and could hear no common prayer. 
In 1863, the frightened people rushed to this image, when 
they saw that the insurrection was not to be successful, 
and the Russian troops charged upon the praying multitude 
of men and women and scattered them on their knees. 

' Before one of the churches two crosses are erected, to 
commemorate the union of Poland and Russia. Tradition 
says that they also mark the scene of the strangest duel 
that was ever heard of, — two brothers being jealous of each 
other on account of their own sister's love, fought here 
and slew each other. The province of " Little Russia " 
lies between Russia proper and Poland, and for the posses- 
sion of it the two kingdoms have fought till it has some- 
times been thought they would devour each other. 

As I saw people going into a court -yard I followed them, 
into a little chapel, where a corpse was lying in state. It 
was of an old man ; thirty or forty candles were burning 
around him, but he was raised on a platform so high that 
his face could not be seen. Leaving him, I came out and 
met a funeral procession. The body was borne in a hearse, 
surmounted with a gorgeous crimson canopy, and drawn by 
six horses richly caparisoned and led by six grooms. The 
Emperor could not have desired a more ostentatious funeral ; 
all hats were removed as the procession passed, and this 
practice, which prevails on the Continent generally, and 



WARSAW. 



283 



especially in France, is a beautiful and becoming tribute of 
respect, which I would be glad to see prevalent at home. 
They uncover their heads when the King passes by ; and 
what monarch is mightier than he to whom the stateliest 
head must bow. 

Ours were the only English names on the register of the 
hotel, the largest in the city ; we called at another hotel, 
and not an English name was there, and during the three 
days we were in Warsaw we did not hear a word of our 
tongue, except when we spoke ourselves. We were not, 
however, as much disturbed by this as the lady was in Paris, 
who was out of all patience and spirits hearing nothing but 
French day after day. One morning she heard a cock 
crowing, and exclaimed, "Thank God, there's somebody 
who speaks English." 




Polish Peasants. 



284 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

FROM WARSAW TO ST. PETERSBURG. 

"X T ^E were to leave Warsaw in the course of the forenoon. 

^ ^ At half-past eight we came downstairs, and found 
the breakfast-room closed, and nobody up in the house who 
could provide the morning repast. As time was precious, 
we went out to another hotel, and it was still closed ; when 
at nine o'clock we succeeded in getting in, there was no one 
stirring but -the landlord himself, and he managed to get 
breakfast for us with his own hands. Returning to our 
own hotel we called for the bill, and found the prices for 
rooms and board one-third more than we were assured they 
would be, by the same man who now made the charges. I 
mention all these little things to show the ways of the world 
we are travelling in. We do not remember any country, 
nor any hotel, where we were more systematically imposed 
on, and where we got so little for so much, as at the Hotel 
I'Europe, the largest and most pretentious house in Poland. 

We rode from the hotel across the Vistula, over a new 
and splendid bridge, and found the railroad station a mile 
beyond. It is put at this safe and very inconvenient dis- 
tance from the town to be secure against sudden outbreaks 
of popular violence. The people are of the excitable order, 
and this road is the grand route between Warsaw and 
St. Petersburg, over which their Russian masters come to 
govern the Poles. The young man selling tickets was civil, 
and he was the first man who had spoken civilly to us since 
we entered unhappy Poland. The Russian officials at the 



FROM WARSAW TO ST. PETERSBURG. 285 

Station were all civil. Before we could purchase our tickets 
our passports were examined, and a " ticket of leave " was 
given us, for which we paid thirty copakes, about twenty 
cents. We paid a cent for the baggage check. The cars 
were splendid ; the first and second class had spring seats, 
cushioned, with racks for parcels ; and the second class was 
quite as good as the first in France or Germany. The pas- 
sengers were very few ; the train, the only one for the day, 
had but three cars, and none were full. We had an apart- 
ment for six entirely to ourselves, two of us. 

We rush out into a vast prairie country, very sparsely 
inhabited, but well cultivated ; large herds of cattle were 
grazing on the plains ; pine groves were frequent ; the 
north side of trees was torn by winter storms ; houses 
were thatched with straw, and appeared to be miserable 
abodes for the poor inhabitants ; they became poorer as we 
went north, sometimes partly under ground. They are 
now more scattered ; fewer villages ; but they are doubtless 
more frequent off the line of railroad, which may be laid 
through parts of the country less settled than others. The 
peasants in their rude working clothes had a wretched 
look, and the women were all barefooted. We passed a 
village that seemed to be Jewish, the men and boys being 
clad in long coats, such as we saw on the Jews in War- 
saw. Once in every half-mile, on the road, was a neat 
house for the railroad man, whose duty it is to see that 
the road is in perfect order. These houses are numbered 
in order, over the whole route ; they are of brick or stone, 
small, warm, and substantial, with a little ornament. The 
idea is excellent. A man thus provided for is impelled by 
his highest interests to be vigilant and faithful ; and it 
would be strange, indeed, if the road were ever suffered to 
be out of order for a moment with such care. The road 
is soHd, a single track with frequent turnouts, and the 
cars run smoothly. At every cross-road for wagons a man 



286 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

Stands keeping guard. Accidents must be very rare on a 
road so managed. 

We stop at Lapy, on the river Narev, for dinner ; they 
give us good soup, stewed veal, and potatoes, and a ball of 
forced meat, and charge us about fifty cents, two or three 
times as much as it was worth, but they do not expect to 
entertain you twice ; certainly we do not expect to dine "at 
Lapy again. 

At Bialystok, the next station, a lady left the cars and 
was met by a young man, perhaps her son, in military 
dress ; they kissed each other four times, and he then 
kissed her hand, and the salutations were completed. 
Many Jewish women were out to-day, which is one of 
their feasts ; the cross-roads were thronged with Jews, 
who seemed to be gathering there to see the cars pass- 
ing ; they were not allowed on the track or on the side 
of the railroad, but must keep themselves on the wagon-- 
roads, where they crossed the track. This town of Bialy- 
stok is quite an important place of 16,000 people, on the 
borders of the old kingdom, and in the cutting up of the 
country it has sometimes been Prussia, sometimes Russia, 
and aforetime Poland. It is now Russia, of course. We 
come on to Grodno, with its 20,000 inhabitants, which is a 
large town in Russia proper, and we feel a pleasant relief 
in being within the bounds of the empire itself, though 
even this was once in Poland, and the residence of some 
of her kings. Here sat the diets, or congress, of Poland, 
and even that most celebrated of all of them, the diet of 
1793, which gave its consent to the partition of Poland. 
Here, too, the last king of Poland, Stanislaus Augustus 
Poniatowski, laid down his sceptre. We find the Jews, 
in great numbers, out on a holiday ; the grand-high-priest, 
with his gorgeous breastplate on, with long hair, as if it 
had never been cut and he were a Nazarene from his birth. 
We are now travelling in Lithuania, once a duchy, whose 



FROM WARSAW TO ST. PETERSBURG. 28/ 

duke married the Queen of Poland, by name Hedwiga, in 
1386. This union made Poland powerful to resist the 
Tartars and the Dukes of Moscow, and to maintain the 
independence of the kingdom for a long series of years. 
The union of Lithuania and Poland continued until the 
third partition in 1795. The country appears poorer as 
we advance ; the soil is less fertile ; there is more sandy 
and barren waste. Pines and firs and white birches are 
the trees we see now ; the houses of the peasants are low 
and poor ; we have long since ceased to see improvements 
about the railroad stations ; we are getting into regions of 
less civilization. As far as the eye reaches away to the 
horizon, no hills are in sight. It was across these wide 
plains that the great French captain led his hosts to in- 
vade Russia, sixty years ago ! We shall be frequently on 
the track of that army's awful march, and its disastrous 
retreat. We have come to Kowno, where the rivers Vilia 
and Niemen meet. Here the French army crossed the 
Niemen, June 23, 18 12, on their way to Moscow, and a 
gentle rise of ground, on the bank, is still called Napo- 
leon's Hill. It was a mighty host when it was here in 
June. All the annals of war and of the world furnish 
no parallel to the story of that campaign ; it was an 
epitome of Napoleon's whole career. But it is rare that 
marble is so modest as the monument which the Russians 
have set up at Kowno to commemorate the miserable 
failure of Napoleon's stupendous plan of subjugating 
Russia. In the centre of the market-place they have set 
up a stone bearing this significant inscription, — 

" In 1812, Russia was invaded by an army numbering 700,000 men. 
The army recrossed the frontier, numbering 70,000." 

When Napoleon entered Wilna on his fatal march to 
Moscow, he occupied the same rooms in the episcopal 
palace that the Emperor Alexander had hastily vacated the 



288 A1.HAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

day before. We shall not have the same apartments, but 
we are here at the same season of the year ; it was June 
28, 1812, when the French army took possession of Wilna, 
the Russians having evacuated it in the night. 

We had been riding eleven hours steadily, yet the cars 
were so comfortable, the road so smooth, and the motion 
so easy and gentle, that we had suffered little fatigue. 
The scenery had been improving. The country was 
more uneven, rolling, and actually rising sometimes to 
the dignity of hills, until we were able and obliged to pass 
through a tunnel, being our first experience of the kind in 
some days, so level had been the regions through which 
we had travelled. Wilna is surrounded by hills, and en- 
joys a river flowing out of the valley, and the ravines are 
filled with birch and larches, giving something of the life 
and beauty of. verdure, which is quite inspiring in this 
latitude. In the fourteenth century the people here were 
pagans, and a fire was kept burning day and night at 
the foot of one of the castle-crowned hills. The ruins of 
the castle, which was reared in 1323, are still visible on the 
summit. What a history of war, famine, and fire these 
intervening centuries have seen. Thirty thousand inhab- 
itants were destroyed by famine in one year, 17 10, and five 
years afterwards nearly the whole town was burned. The 
people are still impatient of the Russian yoke. They are 
always ready for an outbreak. In 1831, they tried and 
failed ; and in 1862 they made a desperate effort, and the 
leaders of the movement were summarily hung or shot. 

The beauties of travel in Russia begin to be seen even 
in the dark. We are in the station, in the midst of a crowd 
of people, who seem to be talking all the languages of 
Babel ; such a jargon does the Russian, Polish, and German 
make, when all are spoken at the same time by an im- 
patient multitude. We are to wait an hour for the train 
to leave, and that will bring it near to midnight. If we 



FROM WARSAW TO ST. PETERSBURG. 289 

spend the night here, there is no train until to-morrow 
night at the same hour, and we shall therefore be as badly 
off when it comes. It is better to go on and make a night 
of it. Twelve hours will bring us to St. Petersburg, and 
then we can rest. There are no sleeping cars. We must 
sit up or lounge the best way we can. It is now eleven 
o'clock and is getting to be dark. But we are so far north 
that the days are long, and the night will be very short. 
At midnight we curl up in the corner of the seat, and the 
train starts as we go to sleep. At two o'clock in the morn- 
ing we awake, and it is broad daylight ! At three we enter 
Dimaberg, a large town of small houses ; 27,000 inhabitants : 
the most of the buildings are of wood, and only one story 
high, like the little farm-houses scattered over the country. 
It is well fortified, though it is hardly worth fighting about. 
John the Terrible captured Dunaberg in 1577, and the 
Swedes took it in 1600. The railroad station-house towers 
above the dwellings, that look like ant-hills scattered 
around. We stop a few minutes only, and push on through 
vast quantites of charcoal and railroad fuel collected here, 
and pine forest succeed, and white birch-trees, and over a 
flat, uninteresting country. The sun rose between four and 
five o'clock, and at a wayside station we were refreshed 
with a cup of coffee. The night was over, and the shortest 
I ever spent with my clothes on. We now pass tilled fields, 
and at one time we counted twenty villages of low, small 
houses in sight at one time, as we rushed along. The 
grain is well up, and with a warm summer will come to 
maturity. Wide tracts of land are destitute of vegetation ; 
and with the evidences of want of agricultural knowledge, 
and the brevity of the summer, it is easy to see that these 
crowded villages may be pinched for want of food in a bad 
season. These famines have sometimes reached the cities, 
and the sufferings of Moscow in 1600 were not exceeded 
by the horrors of Jerusalem besieged by Titus. One hun- 

19 



290 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

dred and twenty-seven thousand dead bodies remained for 
some days unburied in the streets, and 500,000 perished. 

The peasants are astir in the early morning at their work 
in the fields. They are decently clad, and have the appear- 
ance of being " comfortable ; " they and their houses indi- 
cating that they have time and inclination to take care of 
themselves. They are no longer serfs. This term is not 
the same as slave. The serf was sold with the land on 
which he worked, not away from it, or without it. So long 
ago as 1597, a decree was issued forbidding peasants to 
leave the lands on which they were at that time employed. 
This made every working-man a fixture on the land of the 
landholder. At a date even earlier than this, they were 
forbidden to leave except at stated periods, but the com- 
plete attachment by statute of the husbandmen to the soil 
did not take place until the sixteenth century. This con- 
tinued to be the established order of things until the acces- 
sion of Alexander II. to the throne in 1856. The serfdom 
of Russia was not absolute slavery. It did not subject the 
man to the unrestricted will of the master. The peasant 
remained the tiller of the same soil, and changed his master 
only when the soil changed owners. But the grievance 
was inexpressibly great. In some cases it worked extraor- 
dinary results. The serf sometimes by energy and ability 
became a man of wealth and power. But he was under a 
social ban that kept him down as color depresses the black 
man. The reign of the present Emperor has been marked 
by the introduction of great and beneficent reforms. Rail- 
ways were begun, and a new impulse given to trade at 
home and foreign, commerce. The manumission of the 
serfs had long been discussed, but an opposition from the 
nobility had been too formidable to make it safe. In 1838, 
some of the nobles petitioned for the abolition. In 1859, 
the nobles of Lithuania offered to free their serfs. A gen- 
eral plan was then devised for the whole empire, and by a 



FROM WARSAW TO ST. PETERSBURG. 29 1 

decree of March 3, 1861, about twenty-three milKons of 
people were raised to the enjoyment of civil rights. A cer- 
tain amount of land, varying in different districts from two 
and a half to ten acres, was allotted to each peasant. He 
is allowed to acquire more land by purchase. A board of 
arbitrators, in different parts of the country, regulate the 
price and terms of payment to the original owners. The 
government advances the purchase-money to the peasant in 
the form of a five per cent bond, and this the proprietor 
receives for his land, and the government takes the pay- 
ment of the peasant by instalments, through a series of 
years. The districts, or towns, being made responsible for 
this repayment to the government, a wholesome restraint 
is put upon the inhabitants, by which they are kept within 
bounds until this debt is paid. Thus the entire population 
is made interested in the accomplishment of the great 
work. The nobles who were the proprietors of the soil, 
receive government bonds bearing interest, and thus de- 
rive a fixed income, while each peasant becomes an inde- 
pendent landed proprietor. The change has been effected 
with no convulsion, and is gradually becoming a settled and 
peaceful state of things. A few outbreaks occurred at the 
time, chiefly from want of understanding the plan, and on 
the whole it has worked well. 

This beneficent reform has been effected without passion, 
and with the intelligent approbation of the masters who 
were by a single decree deprived of 23,000,000 of bondmen. 
The original owners of the soil are not reduced to poverty 
by the emancipation of their men. The men are not 
turned loose upon the world without means to earn their 
living, and without incentives to industry. The govern- 
ment is not made to bear the expense of supporting them, 
or of finding work for them to do. The emancipated man 
is at once put into a position to earn his living where he 
has always lived. The master is left with a large surplus 



292 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. "t 

of soil, which he may cultivate with hired labor, which must 
be abundant, when the peasants have but small farms of 
their own, which are easily and chiefly tilled by the women. 
And this work has been accomplished with so much moder- 
ation, wisdom, and justice, as to compel the approbation of 
every enlightened judgment and conscience. It is in most 
aspects of the case a model plan of emancipation. 

It seems strange to me that this rapid travel is hurrying 
me on to St. Petersburg ! The cathedral and churches of 
PsKOF are before us, and we stop for breakfast. We enter 
the breakfast-room and find the dishes laid ; each one helps 
himself to whatever he wishes, and pays for what he takes ; 
not a word being necessary, except to learn the price of the 
food. 

A lady and gentleman were walking up and down on 
the platform, both smoking. We are coming to a city where 
smoking in the streets is prohibited by law. The peculiar 
garb of the rustic Russian is seen on the men around the 
station-. They wear long woollen coats, reaching nearly 
to the ground. A girdle is about the middle. The hat 
is a low-crowned beaver, and rapidly expanding toward 
the top. 



ST. PETERSBURG. 293 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

ST. PETERSBURG. 

^T 7E were in Russia, at Warsaw. At that point in the 
^ ^ journey we were put through a searching process, 
and the result having satisfied the officials that we were not 
of the dangerous classes, and had no designs upon the life 
of the Emperor, or the emancipation of Poland, we had 
been allowed to enter. And now that we had come to 
St. Petersburg, there was no need of overhauling us again, 
for we had been certified to already. We were as free on 
arriving at the capital as if we had come to New York. 

At the station-house we were reminded at once that we 
were in a strange land, by the peculiar costume of the por- 
ters and drivers, who were as numerous and noisy as at 
home. They wore low-crown hats, with bevelled rims ; 
long coats reaching to the feet, and a belt about their loins. 
They were as clamorous for hire as in more civilized coun- 
tries, but they pulled and hauled less. It was easy to see 
that the hand of government was upon this most ungovern- 
able class of men. We found the same kind of omnibuses 
that run in our own streets, and on the one inscribed with 
the name of the hotel to which we were bound we took our 
seats, and were soon riding over the roughest paved streets 
that ever disgraced a city. For a long series of years 
St. Petersburg was unpaved. At length an imperial decree 
was issued that every vehicle coming into the city should 
bring a certain number of stones to be left for paving. If 
each carriage had dumped its load, without regard to size 



ST. PETERSBURG. 295 

or order, just where it happened, the result would have 
been about the same as we found and felt the state of the 
streets to be, as we were bounced and tumbled on our way 
to the Hotel de France. 

The manager of the hotel bade us welcome in good Eng- 
lish. We were grimed with the dust of thirty hours' steady 
railroad travel, and the luxury of a bath was more enjoyable 
than bed or board. The Russian is a very different bath 
from the Turkish, where to the preliminaries of warm air 
to set the system into a perspiration is added the thorough 
and plentiful scrubbing with hot water, poured on merci- 
lessly. The Russian is the vapor bath only, and its effect 
is to open all the pores of the skin, to empty them com- 
pletely as the streams of perspiration gush from every little 
mouth, and to incite a pleasurable languor, when all sense 
of weariness, soreness, or stiffness is gradually steamed 
away. The Russian dinner that followed was of the best : 
soup, fish, cutlet, roast beef, partridges, vegetables, and 
varied dessert. Wines or not, as you choose to order. 

To see a city whose language is not one of your accom- 
plishments, you must have a guide, a commissionaire, a 
valet de place. Now we knew precious little of the Russ. 
We had picked up a httle Polish — mark, I do not say pol- 
ish — at Warsaw, and had startled the natives by sudden 
outbreaks in what we supposed to be perfectly proper lan- 
guage, but which only served to awaken their pity or make 
them laugh ; but the Russian is another thing, and not 
expecting to spend a winter here, nor to study the literature 
of the country, we had given no time to the language. We 
must have some one to be our mouth to the people, some- 
body who could answer a thousand questions out of his 
own stores of information, or serve as our interpreter when 
we attempted to get it out of others. 

In the city of St. Petersburg resides an old Englishman 
whose name is Russel. He has an understanding with the 



296 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

hotel men that whenever a guide is wanted by travellers, 
he is to be sent for, and at our intimation ' he made his 
appearance, and very respectfully offered his services to 
make us familiar with the lions of the town. Mr. Russel 
is a venerable man in years, having completed his three- 
score and ten some time since. Half a century of these 
years he has dwelt in this capital of the Russian empire, 
and toiled in this interesting service of expounding its 
wonders to the visitors from other countries. Mr. Russel 
has become so familiar with the objects of interest in his 
adopted city, that he imagines his strangers to be equally 
familiar with them, and in no need of being enlightened. 
He is so far gone in the loss of his faculties, if he ever 
had any great quantity to lose, that a question must be 
proposed to him often and in many forms, before he com- 
prehends it, and when he answers, you are not sure that 
he understood you, or that he knows any thing about the 
matter. He never speaks except when he is spoken to, 
unless to tell you something you knew before, or that was 
not worth knowing. He would pass the most important 
and interesting buildings or monuments or historic places 
in the city, and not mention them, unless you asked him, — 
" What's that .? " Yet he v/as very English. He dropped 
the H invariably. He exaspirated his vowels most unmer- 
cifully. Pointing to the tombs of the kings and royal 
family, he said : " That's the /uij'-e to the throne ; that's 
his haunt, and there's his huncler In a picture-gallery we 
came to Danae, and he was kind enough to say, *' That's a 
woman, I believe," and there was not much room for doubt 
on the subject ; and in a group of mythological sculpture 
he remarked for our information, " That's Jupiter, — these 
is all gods." 

This was the intelUgent man who was to make us ac- 
quainted with the city of St. Petersburg. If you are to 
be told only what he could tell me, it would not be worth 



ST. PETERSBURG. 29/ 

while to read any further. But we have eyes and ears of 
our own, and already the barbaric splendor of this northern 
capital is breaking upon us. You shall have our first im- 
pressions and our last, for we have made two visits here, 
and have become familiar with the city, if not in love with 
it. It is not a city to go into raptures over. Perhaps it 
will become beautiful one day. But nothing in it is fin- 
ished. Streets with palaces on them are still disfigured 
with insignificant and miserable dwellings. Palaces are 
not completed. Wealth has been lavished, but nothing is 
done. It resembles our own capital in this, that its public 
buildings are far apart, and the city is not half built up. 

In the year 1703, Peter the Great began to build a city, 
to be called after his own name. He selected a miserable 
site on the banks of the Neva, and here he gathered a host 
of Russians, Tartars, Kalmucks, and Fins, and set them 
at this stupendous work. We expect to grow as the 
people want houses to live in. Peter built a city, and 
then looked for people to come and find it. The little 
cottage that he built for himself on the shore is still 
standing where he placed it, and the tools with which 
he worked, with his own industrious and skilful hands. 
For several successive years, 40,000 men were annually 
raised by draft, as for an army, to come from distant parts 
of the empire and build. The nobility of Russia came and 
caused residences to be reared for them, when they saw 
that Moscow was no longer to be the capital. Peter died, 
and Catharine I. did not push on the work with energy. 
Her successor, Peter II., loved Moscow more, and died 
there. Anne, the empress, adopted Petersburg as her 
residence, and it flourished under her reign. Catharine 
strove hard to defend it from the inroads of the river, but 
it lies so low that no art can avert inundations. It lies in 
the midst of waters, a vast morass. Canals easily traverse 
its bosom. Bridges and islands and quays are part of the 



298 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

streets and squares of the city. The houses are too many 
for the inhabitants. The thoroughfares are never thronged. 
You may walk long streets and scarcely meet a person. 
Half a million is the number of its inhabitants, but there 
is room for many more. 

The contrasts are more sudden and striking than in 
other capitals. The rich are very rich ; the poor are very 
poor. Society is rigid in its laws. The nobles have no 
sympathies with the serf, though a serf no longer. Caste 
is stronger in Russia than in England. 

But I am impatient to be out in the town, sight-seeing. 
It is a very hot day, and I asked Russel if they often had 
such hot weather in June. "Well," he said,." sometimes 
it is 'ot as this, and sometimes not so 'ot : it depends very 
much on the weather ; " and with this profound observation 
he led the way into the city. 

It was but a step from our lodgings, under the arch that 
divides and connects the state apartments into the grand 
square in front of the Winter Palace, the residence of the 
Emperor of Russia. 

But before us rises a red granite column, the grandeur 
and beauty of which instantly fix the eye. A single stone, 
eighty-four feet high and fifty feet in circumference, — 
the loftiest single shaft of modern times, only less in 
height than Pompey's Pillar, — stands in the midst of the 
square, surmounted by an angel and the cross. The ped- 
estal bears a brief inscription, but it tells the whole story, — 
" Grateful Russia to Alexander I." Originally this stone 
was cut out of the mountain, 104 feet long, and the order 
was to make the loftiest monolith in the world ; but from 
fear that it was too long to stand firmly on its base, which 
was fourteen feet in diameter, it was shortened to its 
present length. With incredible labor it was erected upon 
a pedestal twenty-five feet high, and there, polished, . it 
stands, perhaps the most splendid shaft that now presses 



ST. PETERSBURG. 299 

upon the earth. It seemed to grow as I gazed upon it. 
And daily as I caught sight of it from other parts of the 
city, or as I drove into the magnificent area of which it is 
the central figure, its simple majesty and exceeding beauty 
impressed me more and more. What vast labor it cost to 
bring this block from the mountains of Finland, and plant 
it perpendicularly on the banks of the Neva, in the heart 
of the city ! 

In the Admiralty Square is a more famous statue, and 
one of which we have heard from childhood ; pictures of it 
had made it so familiar that it seemed an old acquaintance, 
— Peter the Great, the founder of the city, its inventor 
and builder, is on horseback, riding up a rock, to the verge 
of which he has come, when he reins in his steed and sits 
looking upon the river and the city he has raised upon its 
banks. The horse is rearing, and the immense weight 
rests upon his hinder legs and the tail, which touches a 
huge serpent, coiled at the horse's feet. This is deservedly 
reckoned one of the finest equestrian statues, and it honors 
the most extraordinary man of his age. 

Two boys were together crowned as Czars of Russia, at 
Moscow, by the Greek patriarch, on the 15th of June, 1682. 
They were brothers, and one of them soon yielded to the 
superior energy of the other, and resigning his share of 
the government, left Peter the sole sovereign of an empire 
but little above the range of barbarism. This Peter, who 
became Peter the Great, was then but seventeen years 
old. He was far in advance of every one, and his reign 
marks the era of Russia's rise to greatness among the 
nations. Yet this man never rose to the conception of 
what must be a nation's true glory. His ideas all ran 
in the line of material grandeur, and not in the direction 
of moral and mental progress. He was a born mechanic, 
and he built a nation. He thought to build a people just 
as he built the city that bears his name. His superstitious 



300 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

nobles considered it wicked for him to go abroad, but he 
had heard of the arts of civiHzation, that made France and 
Holland and England glorious in the world, and he de- 
termined to see for himself what it was that made them 
so. He laid aside his imperial purple (if he ever had any), 
and travelled into distant lands. Sometimes he concealed 
his royal person in the garb of a common workman, and 
wrought in the shops with his own hands. I have seen 
many specimens of his handicraft that would do credit to 
any artisan who earned his bread by his industry and skill. 
He was a capital ship carpenter. Russia was in want of 
a navy. Peter learned how to build ships, and made a navy 
for Russia. In foreign countries he studied every thing, 
but learned nothing truly great in the art of government. 
Going into the courts of Westminster with a friend one 
day, in London, and seeing many men with wigs, he asked 
who they were. 

" They are lawyers," said his friend. 

" Lawyers ! " he exclaimed ; " why, I have only two lawyers 
in my dominions, and I mean to hang one as soon as I re- 
turn." 

In all that he saw in England and Holland, where he 
spent most of his time abroad, he never learned that mind 
makes nations great ; that intelligence is the security of 
national progress and prosperity, and that the people, even 
under despotic governments, have the power to help them- 
selves if their rulers will give them a chance. But he came 
back with the idea of making his empire greater by making 
it broader, and he took the sword as the instrument of suc- 
cess. He was partially successful. After a reign of half a 
century, he died and left his empire on the highway to 
civilization and glory. It is wonderful that Russia has 
made so little progress since his death in 1725. Yet no 
monarch ever reigned who descended to such minute details 
in legislating for his people. Inured to hardships himself, 



ST. PETERSBURG. 3OI 

and possessed with the idea that nothing was invincible 
which his will was set to overcome, he undertook to force 
his subjects into sudden and astounding reforms, from 
which they revolted. He could not make them see with his 
eyes, nor work with his hands. He made his clergy shave 
their faces, and the enemies of his innovations called him 
the antichrist. No man ever lived who impressed himself 
more indelibly upon a people than Peter the Great. His 
name is held in honor second only to the Divine. The 
relics of his handiwork are preserved with religious care. 
Every museum has some specimen of his genius and in- 
dustry, and the lapse of a hundred and fifty years since 
these things were made by imperial fingers invests them 
with interest approaching reverential awe. 

But the greatest of all his works, and one that is the 
most characteristic of the man, is the city of St. Peters- 
burg itself. Why he selected such a site for it, it is im- 
possible to say, unless its very unfitness and apparent 
impracticability developed that faculty for which he was so 
remarkable, and impelled him to undertake what to others 
was an impossibility. From the summit of a monument, or 
the dome of St. Isaac's Cathedral, the city seems to float in 
the waters. And this would not be a fatal objection to the 
site if it stood in such relations to the rest of the empire or 
the world as to make it important to fix it here. But it 
does not. Winter shuts it out from communication with 
the sea about half the time. 

As we were walking on the most thronged of the 
thoroughfares in St. Petersburg, the Nevski Perspective, 
a well-dressed gentleman paused, and, turning toward a 
church which he was passing, took off his hat and offered 
a silent prayer. What at first appeared the eccentricity of 
a single individual, or excessive devotion, I soon perceived 
was the practice of many, and indeed a custom of the coun- 
try. In passing a church, of course one passes an altar ; 



302 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

and it may be, and indeed is, out of sight, but the devout 
beUever recognizes the fact by a token of reverence, sHght 
perhaps, but nevertheless sincere. Women hurrying by 
with baskets of market stuff were often wilhng to put down 
their burdens before the cross and pass a moment in thoughts 
of their Saviour. 

I went into the church, the Kazan Cathedral, with a 
colonnade in feeble imitation of St. Peter's at Rome. The 
Greek religion is as nearly like the Romish as this church 
is like St. Peter's : it is a copy after it^ and a good ways 
after it, but still so near that it amounts to the same thing. 
They do not make unto themselves graven images, because 
that is forbidden by the second commandment ; but they 
do make the likeness of things in heaven and earth, although 
that is forbidden, and they do bow down and worship these 
likenesses, or pay apparently the same honors to a picture 
of the Virgin that the Romanist does to a statue. The 
distinction is without a difference. But when I entered the 
cathedral, I saw a sight that never met my eye in Rome 
or any Roman Catholic city. In the middle of the day, 
and on a week-day too, respectably appearing, well-dressed 
gentlemen were standing or kneeling before the altar offer- 
ing their devotions. Women were there numerously, and 
the poor, whose garb denoted their poverty ; and these 
classes are largely represented in Romish churches every- 
where ; but the Greek religion had such hold upon the 
people of another set, as to excite remark. The same lavish 
expenditure upon the churches is to be seen here as in Italy 
and Spain, though the architecture is far from being so 
effective as that which prevails in Spain and Italy. This 
church was built sixty years ago, at an expense of three 
millions of dollars then. A colonnade inside in four rows 
extends from the centre pillars supporting the dome, which 
is 230 feet above the floor, and from the three great doors. 
These columns are fifty-six in number, each one a single 



ST. PETERSBURG. 303 

stone, thirty-five feet high, with bronze Corinthian capitals. 
In the midst of the main door the name of God is recorded 
with precious stones, and a miraculous painting of the 
Virgin blazes with gold and jewels of untold value. And 
in the midst of this temple of religion, sacred to the wor- 
ship of the Prince of Peace, hung trophies of victories over 
France, Turkey, and Persia. 

But this church i-s not the wonder of the city. You 
must go with us to the Isaac Cathedral, whose gilded dome 
has attracted our eye from every part of the city, and whose 
glittering cross above the crescent we have studied with an 
opera-glass, again and again, at a distance. Peter the 
Great built a church of wood just here, and Catharine 
another when the first was destroyed, but that gave way to 
this glorious pile, which was forty years in building, and 
was completed in 1858. It is far more imposing in its ex- 
ternal appearance than St. Peter's. Its proportions are 
perfect and stupendous. Like all other Greek churches, it 
is four square and in the form of the Greek cross. A 
grand entrance on each side is approached by a broad 
flight of red granite steps, vast blocks of stone from the 
quarries of Finland. Each flight of steps is surmounted by 
a peristyle, each pillar of which is sixty feet high, one solid, 
polished, red granite column ! Above them, thirty pillars 
support the central cupola, and on the crown of this vast 
hovering cupola is a miniature of the temple below, a beauti- 
ful finish to the whole, on the summit of which stands the 
shining cross. 

Within, the splendor is amazing. Think of columns of 
solid malachite fifty feet high ! A bit of this stone is a gem 
to be set in gold for an ornament on a lady's dress. But 
here it is in lofty pillars, and steps for altars, with lesser 
pillars of lapis lazuli standing near. The worship is in the 
form and manner of the Greek Church, and is strikingly 
Oriental, more so than that we see in the Church of Rome. 



304 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

Men and women not merely bow and kneel and cross them- 
selves, touching their fingers to their foreheads and breasts, 
but they prostrate themselves with their faces on the cold 
stone floor, and lie there as if dead. Women thus lying in 
a heap looked more like a bundle of rags or old clothes, than 
human beings worshipping the Almighty. Others brought 
candles and lighted them, to be burned before the images, 
that is, the pictures of the Virgin Mary and the Holy 
Child. Some of the people lighted the candles themselves, 
repeating a prayer ; the verger lighted them for others, and 
presented them to the Virgin as he proceeded with the 
service. 

One woman brought a napkin or some cloth embroidered, 
and gave it to the verger, who opened a golden door into 
the Virgin's panel, and placing the offering in it, locked it 
again. This was as truly idolatrous as any worship you 
would see in Romish churches, and wherein it differs from 
offerings to idols in pagan temples I do not see. 

A collection was now taken up, by assistants going 
around with bags, and gathering from the multitude stand- 
ing before the altar. Every one seemed to put in some- 
thing, and their alms and prayers went together. 

Three priests were officiating. One went about swinging 
a censer with burning incense. A choir of men-singers 
stood near the altar and made the responses with great 
power and singular sweetness of tone. The sacristan came 
to us and offered to show us the sacred things in the tem- 
ple, and when we objected that the service was in progress, 
and we did not wish to be sight-seeing at such a time, he 
assured us it was all right, and we need not stand upon 
ceremony. He led us to the holy places, and pointed out 
the sacred relics, which were useful to him in extracting a 
fee from the stranger, and that is the only miracle they are 
able to work. If they do this every day, and often enough 
every day, they will be held in honor as long as the temple 
stands. 



ST. PETERSBURG. 305 

In the course of our wanderings under the lead of the 
sacristan, we found ourselves behind the veil, or the hang- 
ing curtain which was opened for the priests to go out and 
in during the service. Fearful of intrusion, we were about 
to retire, when one of the priests came from his place, and 
invited us into the apartment where he was standing, and 
responding as his associate read the service. The inmost 
shrine, perhaps it may be called the Holy of Holies, is in a 
round temple, whose dome is held by eight pillars of solid 
malachite, and the walls and floors are of polished marbles 
of various colors. The steps by which we ascend to it are 
of polished porphyry. 

The freedom with which a stranger was admitted " behind 
the scenes " in the midst of the service was surprising to 
me, and I had an opportunity not expected, of coming into 
contact with the priests and ministers of the Greek rehgion, 
while in their ser\4ce. The priests are a very inferior order 
of men ; very unlearned, of low extraction, and in their ap- 
pearance and manners what you would expect after such a 
statement. They are obliged to be married once, and if 
the wife die, they are not allowed to marry a second time, 
but the widower continues to serve at the altar as before. 
It is said that the priests are very watchful of the health of 
their wives, on the principle that a good thing which can- 
not be replaced must be preserved with the greatest care. 
This is better than the celibacy of Romish priests, which is 
offensive to nature and good morals, a curse to the church 
and the world. You cannot be long in any country where 
the Romish priests abound without hearing of their bad 
morals, but the reputation of the priests in the Russo- 
Greek Church is better. In their religious services, the 
most effective part is the singing, and indeed the praying 
is intoning, which is a drawling kind of singing, now com- 
ing into use in the ritualistic churches, which are only 
feeble imitations of the Romish and Greek. Boys are em- 



306 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

ployed in the choirs, and for some parts of the service, the 
solos particularly, they get the deepest bass voices that can 
be hired, and sometimes they render the sublime passages 
with great effect. I have said the men, as well as the 
women, appear to be religious in Russia. And it struck 
me as very strange to see a fine-looking, full-grown man 
coming in at noonday into a church, bringing a little wax 
candle, walking up to a shrine over which is a picture of 
the Virgin, kneeling before it, bowing his head to the floor, 
crossing himself again and again, lighting his candle and 
sticking it into a hole prepared for the purpose, and once 
more prostrating himself to kiss the pavement, and then 
retire ! This lighting of candles is an emblem of life, and 
is designed to keep the spiritual nature of man continually 
in view. The Russians have no religious ceremonies with- 
out this symbol of the Spirit. It is fast finding its way 
into the churches of England and America that copy 
after these Oriental customs, without apprehending their 
meaning. 

Nothing in the mode of worship distinguishes the Greek 
from the Roman Catholic. I would not speak with confi- 
dence, but it appeared to me that the people were more 
deeply religious than they are in Roman Catholic countries. 
It is not, as with the people in Italy and Spain, and more 
especially in France, merely a matter of form to be gone 
through with, and that the end of it. In the Romish 
cathedrals, it was rare that I could get into sympathy 
with the worshippers so as to feel devotional in a service 
foreign from that with which I. was familiar. For . any- 
where on earth where men are worshipping God in their 
way and we are present, from curiosity, or any other 
motive, I would desire also to be a worshipper, and offer 
among strangers the incense of a loving heart, touched 
with a sense of sin, and longing for divine favor. There 
is no danger of becoming an idolater by worshipping 



ST. PETERSBURG. 30/ 

the only living and true God in the midst of idolaters. 
The soul goes out to him who heareth prayer for those 
who are bowing down to stocks and stones. And he 
whom they ignorantly worship I would find in their tem- 
ples, for the way to him is through the open door in the 
side of his crucified Son. But the Roman Catholics do 
not get so near to God as these Greek Christians do, for 
the former seem to be so much engrossed with saints and 
the mother of Jesus, that they lose the joy and blessedness 
of coming right to Christ, who is in the Father, and by 
whom they are saved. 

The Russians keep Lent very rigidly, and are also care- 
ful to fast every Wednesday and Friday. They have four 
great fasts in the year : Lent, Peter's fast, Conception fast, 
and St. Philip's fast. The children are taught the cate- 
chism of the Greek Church. The Sabbath is not observed 
with any more regard to rest and worship than it is in 
France or Italy. They make long pilgrimages to monas- 
teries and holy places. There are no pews or seats in the 
churches ; all stand, the rich and poor, the emperor and 
empress, high and low alike on a level in the presence of 
God. When the Emperor was assailed in the park by 
an assassin, a few years ago, and escaped the blow aimed 
at his life, he rode directly to this Isaac Cathedral, and 
here in the midst of the thronging multitude, gave 
thanks for his deliverance from sudden death. The lan- 
guage of the church service is the Slavonic, and it is 
quite as unintelligible to the masses as the ora pro 
nobis and the rest of the Latin to the Roman CathoHcs 
in our country. The whole service is quite as im- 
posing as the Romish, wdth processions and banners and 
sonorous responses. Religious services are often cele- 
brated in private houses to cast out evil spirits ; and 
always the fortieth day after a person's death is ob- 
served in memory and improvement of the event. In 



■308 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

one corner of every room that you enter from the street 
is the image of the Virgin, and you are expected always 
to remove your hat on coming in ; at first, it seems to be 
required as a token of respect to the persons in the house, 
but it is solely to honor the Virgin in the corner. The 
Russians are a very superstitious people, and they believe 
in houses haunted with good and evil spirits, especially the 
evil, and the constant presence of a pictured Mary is a 
protection ; at least they think so. 



310 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

RUSSIAN ART, CUSTOMS, AND MANNERS. 

T HAD always supposed the Winter Palace of the Em- 
peror was an edifice prepared with some special reference 
to the climate of this northern country. It is called the 
Winter Palace only because the Emperor has, as a matter 
of course, other palaces in the country in which to spend 
the summer. This is a vast structure on the very border 
of the river Neva, and in the midst of the city. It is built 
of brown stone, and makes some pretence to architectural 
elegance. 

It, the palace, has five thousand inhabitants ! I confess 
that those figures of speech seem to be very large, and it is 
a wonder how so many people can find employment in the 
service of one household. But the ways of royalty are not 
readily comprehended by mortals of common clay, and per- 
haps if we knew how many servants there are who have 
servants to wait upon them, how all these have families of 
their own, and these are all to be fed and lodged within 
these walls, we may begin to understand that one house 
may become a village, and quite populous also. 

But if this number of dependents exceeds that of any 
other palace in Europe, as it probably does, it is safe to say 
that it is the most gorgeously decorated and furnished. 
Whatever extravagance the wit of man could devise to 
adorn a house has been lavished here, and the result is 
what might be expected, — a great display without that 
quiet elegance which distinguishes true from meretricious 



RUSSIAN ART, CUSTOMS, AND MANNERS. 3II 

art. The Russian is between the Eastern and Western. 
The Russian is not a barbarous people, nor yet thoroughly 
civilized. On the borders of the two, he delights in the 
barbaric splendor of the Orientals, and has not yet reached 
the point where simplicity imparts the highest charm to 
elegance and grandeur. This accounts for the architecture 
of Russian palaces and temples. More emphatically it 
shows itself in the immense amount of gold which overlays 
every thing they wish to adorn. Even the domes of their 
churches blaze in gold, so that each one looks like a rising 
sun. 

The crown jewels of Russia are the chief object of interest 
in the Winter Palace, for it is dreadfully tiresome to be led 
over miles of polished floors to look through room upon room, 
in endless mazes lost, seeing the same things substantially 
everywhere, and hearing the same story over and over again 
about the kings and queens that slept here and died there ; 
though, as it was built since 1840, there is little or no his- 
toric interest about it. But the crown jewels are worth 
seeing. One loves to look at a diamond worth a million, 
though he cannot use it for a button. The Orloff diamond 
is as famous as the Koh-i-noor, and was, perhaps, at one 
time part of the same stone. Its history is romantic. It 
was once the eye of an idol in a temple in India, and being 
plucked out and stolen by a soldier, it passed through many 
hands till Count Orloff bought it and gave it to the Empress 
of Russia. It cost the Count or the Empress about three 
hundred thousand dollars. It weighs 194 carats, being eight 
carats more than the Koh-i-noor weighed when it came from 
India. The Orloff is the largest of the crown jewels in 
Europe. The imperial crown itself is radiant with the 
most magnificent gems, forty or more in number, and the 
crown of the Empress contains the most beautiful mass of 
diamonds known to be set together ; a hundred of them at 
least. Some of the richest are precious stones presented 



312 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

to Russia by sovereigns in the East who would conciliate 
this mighty power. And what are they good for, when 
gathered into such a treasury ? They are the playthings of 
royalty ; baubles that delight the eye, pure carbon that is 
sold by the ton for a few dollars, but in the form of a dia- 
mond, it has a value scarcely to be reckoned, when they lie 
around in such heaps as we see them here. 

The Hermitage is a palace near to the other, in which 
are the Russian galleries of art. If it was surprising to 
find in Madrid the most valuable collection of paintings in 
Europe, it was not less astonishing to find in Russia such 
magnificent pictures and so large a number of those that 
deserve admiration. For many years past the government 
has been spending large sums of money in the purchase of 
pictures. It has had and has its agents in "Italy, and in 
every picture mart in Europe, ready to pay any price for 
" an old master." 

And it has shown its good sense in this, that when it 
cannot compass the original, it gets the best possible copy, 
and hangs it on its walls, with its story fairly told. This is 
the true way to cultivate the taste, and instruct the intel- 
lect of the nation in art. Catharine the Great built a pavil- 
ion on the end of the Winter Palace, to which she might 
retire from the cares of State, and here she drew around her 
the wits of the age. She called it the Hermitage, and that 
it might be a real refuge, into which royalty and its stilted- 
ness could not intrude, she made a curious code of laws to 
govern the company that she here assembled. 

The Hermitage is now the Royal Museum, and its gran- 
deur and extent are unequalled. It is 515 feet long and 375 
feet wide. The roof of this vast hall is supported by six- 
teen columns, each one a single block of granite from Fin- 
land, with Corinthian capitals of Carara marble. Successive 
stories on the same scale are filled with statues and pictures, 
and curious works of art, in which the genius and skill of all 



RUSSIAN ART, CUSTOMS, AND MANNERS. 313 

schools and nations are represented. Even to mention 
them would take up more of your time than would be 
proper for me to consume, and I let them pass unnoticed. 
I was even more interested in Peter the Great's gallery, 
where his turning-lathes and other tools that he used with 
his own hands are preserved ; and what is even more re^ 
markable, the instruments that he manufactured for him- 
self, from a telescope to a walking-stick. His iron staff that 
he carried about with him would not be credited as genuine, 
were it not that a wooden rod tells of his gigantic stature, 
and thus makes it quite probable that he could walk with a 
rod of iron. 

Art-culture in Russia has advanced to a far higher point 
than we would expect to find. The painting and sculpture 
of Russia in the Paris exhibition astonished the outside 
world, and the galleries in the Hermitage devoted to native 
art "are marvellously illustrated with splendid achievements 
of the chisel and pencil. 

In all countries I am more interested in studying the 
condition of the masses than the "upper classes." In all 
countries the rich and the titled, the " well-to-do in the 
world," can take care of themselves, and they are substan- 
tially the same kind of people in all civilized lands. The 
nobles of England, of France, of Germany, of Russia, have 
plenty to eat and to drink and they know wherewithal they 
are to be clothed, and when one is travelling in their country, 
he has no need to ask whether or not they are enjoying 
themselves after their own fashion, and have any need of 
human sympathy. But when we pass through a Russian 
town with a thousand huts in it, all about the same size, 
and not one aspiring to the dignity of a respectable Ameri- 
can farm-house, and see vast tracts of land well tilled, but 
not a house nor a man in sight, then I wonder how the people 
live in these parts ; what do they eat and drink, and do 
they have enough } . Are they contented and happy, or do 



314 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

they hunger and pine, and drag out a miserable sort of life 
of it, here in these far-away lands ? 

In the agricultural districts of Russia, not very far away 
from the chief cities, a laborer gets for a day's work his 
food and about fifty copeks, or, of our money, about forty 
cents a day. A mechanic gets about one rouble, which is 
a hundred copeks, or about eighty cents of our money, for 
a day's work, and he finds his own food. In the winter 
season beef is sold in St. Petersburg for ten or twelve 
cents a pound, and in summer it is as low as eight cents. 
This will enable you to compare the rate of wages with the 
price of food, and to see that there is not so great a differ- 
ence in the cost, to the poor, of living in that country and 
ours, as might at first be supposed. 

The rent of the hotel at which I am staying in St. Peters- 
burg — and it is one of the largest in the kingdom — is 
about fifteen thousand dollars per annum, and that is 
about seven per cent on the valuation of the property. 

The food of the peasantry is largely composed of cab- 
bage soup, which is a great article among them, and they 
consume it day after day, year in and year out, and are 
always fond of it. This is one of the pleasantest com- 
pensations of Providence, that people may continue to be 
fond of a dish that they have to eat every day. Their 
bread is black, and they have some meat, for it is not 
costly, and on the whole they are comfortably fed. So 
they are decently clothed. Their dress has the appearance 
of warmth and comfort, too much for the hot weather 
that is now raging ; but they have so much cold and so 
little heat, that they do not care to make a change for the 
brief summer. A poor peasant swelters in a jacket of 
sheepskin with the wool on it, or we^rs a fur collar if he 
can afford it, and sticks to it under a blazing hot sun, as 
well as in midwinter. 

A peculiar custom is observed in Russia that I never 



3l6 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

noticed elsewhere. You are expected always to take off 
your overcoat on entering the house to make a call, of busi- 
ness or pleasure. Even when you call at the bank, to draw 
or deposit your money, a liveried servant in the hall con- 
ducts you to an anteroom, where you lay aside .your over- 
coat and hat, and then enter the business-room as if you 
were to be presented to the lady of the mansion. My 
bankers here are Wynken & Co., at the end of the iron 
bridge over the Neva, and, upon entering, I was shown to 
a seat, and my letter of credit taken by a clerk to one of 
the firm, who immediately came out from his office, and 
after a few complimentary inquiries, asked me what he 
could do for me, and in a few minutes the business was 
done. 

A despot is the Emperor of Russia. We have come to 
associate only a bad meaning with the word despot. It had 
not such a sense as we liberty worshippers give it. Now 
it means a tyrant, a hard master, one who has unlimited 
power and uses it to oppress. Despotes is the Greek word 
for master in the New Testament, and sometimes the Lord 
himself is spoken of and addressed under this name. The 
apostle Paul says : " Let as many servants as are under 
the yoke, count their own despots worthy of all honor." And 
again : "they that have believing despots ;" and again, he 
commands servants to be obedient unto their own despots. 
So Peter tells them to be subject to their own despots. And 
good old Simeon cries : " Despotes, now lettest thou thy 
servant depart in peace." And Peter speaks of those who 
deny the despotes that bought them ; and in Rev. vi. lo, we 
read : " Plow long, O despotes, holy and true," &c. These 
quotations show us the good sense in which the word was 
once used ; and now, when we speak of a despotic govern- 
ment, we do not understand that it is necessarily an 
oppressive government, but one in which the power is 
concentrated in the hands of one man, who can use it at 
his pleasure, unrestrained by constitution or legislature. 



RUSSIAN ART, CUSTOMS, AND MANNERS. 317 

Justice is administered under laws the issue of the sove- 
reign will, and liable to be repealed at his pleasure. Trial 
by jury is of recent introduction, and may be considered as 
an experiment. In the court-room I inquired of an intelli- 
gent gentleman how it was working. He said, quite well ; 
and then related the following incident to show how the 
royal will comes in, even to the smallest affairs of private 
citizens : An officer under the government promised to 
give a certain place of profit to a man, who was soon sur- 
prised to find that it was given to another. Such mishaps 
are not unusual in milder governments, I believe. But the 
disappointed office-seeker sought the man who had prom- 
ised it to him, and slapped his face in open court, charging 
him with a breach of faith. He was arraigned and tried by 
jury for the assault and battery, and the jury brought in a 
verdict of not guilty, or more accurately, — " Served him 
right." The verdict was received with great applause. The 
Emperor gave the office-seeker and the office-holder also, 
the striker and the struck, appointments in distant parts 
of the empire, where neither of them wanted to go or to 
stay, and thus he punished them both : one for breaking 
his word, and the other for breaking the peace. There is 
a vein of humor in such administration of justice. 

" The bookkeeper of a mercantile house in Thorn was 
arrested in the Russian town of Rieszawa, by the burgo- 
master of that place, on a perfectly unfounded charge of an 
intention to smuggle. Although the bookkeeper succeeded 
in establishing his respectability, he was thrown into a 
dirty prison cell, and kept there twenty-four hours. His 
principal, of course, complained of this most unjustifiable 
treatment, and has lately received an official communication 
that the burgomaster has also been imprisoned twenty-four 
hours, and in the same prison in which he had shut up the 
unhappy bookkeeper." 

M. Andreoli, a Russian writer, who was exiled some 
years ago to Siberia, is now contributing to the Revue 



3l8 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

Moderne^ under the title of " Souvenirs de Siberie," his re- 
collections not only of Siberian but also of Russian life. 
In the last number of the Revue he tells a story, the end of 
which belongs to the present reign, the beginning to the 
reign of Paul, of whose period it is strikingly characteristic. 
The Emperor's favorite was at that time a young French 
actress, of whom he was madly jealous. One evening, at a 
ball, he noticed that a young man named Labanoff was pay- 
ing her a great deal of attention. He did not lose his tem- 
per, but at the end of the ball gave orders that Labanoff 
should be arrested and thrown into the citadel. He only 
intended to keep him there a few days, " to make him more 
serious," after which he proposed to reprimand him and to 
appoint him to an office which had been solicited for him. 
Labanoff, however, was forgotten. At the death of Nicholas, 
Alexander H., then full of magnanimity, liberated all the 
prisoners in the citadel, without exception. In a vaulted 
tomb, in which it was impossible to stand upright, and 
which was not more than two yards long, an old man was 
found, almost bent double, and incapable of answering when 
he was spoken to. This was Labanoff. The Emperor 
Paul had been succeeded by the Emperor Alexander I., and 
afterwards by the Emperor Nicholas ; he had been in the 
dungeon more than fifty years. When he was taken out 
he could not bear the light, and, by a strange phenom- 
enon, his movements had become automatic. He could 
hardly hold himself up, and he had become so accus- 
tomed to move about within the limits of his narrow cell 
that he could not take more than two steps forwards without 
turning round, as though he had struck against a wall, and 
taking two steps backwards, and so on alternately. He 
lived for only a week after his liberation. 

We often read such facts as these, and they are sad and 
awful illustrations of what unlimited power may be left to 
do. Recently there have been horrible stories of cruelties 
inflicted by the agents of the Russian government, but 



RUSSIAN ART, CUSTOMS, AND MANNERS. 319 

they are not worse than have sometimes been perpetrated 
in the name of Hberty and justice in other and more en- 
Hghtened countries. 

Look on the map of Asia and see that vast country of 
Siberia, a part of the colossal empire of Russia. The tales 
that are told of the exiles of Siberia have formed a large 
part of the sensational literature of other days. In that 
lone, distant, cold, inhospitable clime, is the region where for 
many long years this government has sent its prisoners of 
state, and many others who have incurred the despotic dis- 
pleasure. Banished for life is to all intents and purposes 
death. The wife of the exile, if not allowed to go with him 
and share his sorrows in a wretched land, is free to be married 
again. His property goes to his heirs as if he were dead. 
He has not even his own name in Siberia, but is known by 
the number that he receives when he enters upon his new 
estate. 

It is terrible to think that one imperfect man holds in his 
own hand such power. The mere possession of it tempts 
to evil. And limit it as we may, divide it among many, 
apply checks and balances, there will yet be abuses under 
all systems of human government. Even our own boasted 
democratic republican form has its defects. We have made 
ignorance and vice too mighty in our popular elections, and 
have come to know that no despot is more irresponsible 
than the many-headed monster of a corrupt and unthinking 
multitude. 

Taking a boat on the Neva and being rowed across to the 
Academy of Science, we made an interesting visit to the 
Zoological Museum, which has some things of interest far 
beyond that of any other museum in the world. Here we 
have something more tha i fossils, we have the veritable 
meat of the mammoth and mastodon and elephant, and 
perhaps they may all belong to one and the same animal. 
But the Siberian rivers have furnished ice-tombs in which 
these beasts have been buried for centuries, and when they 



320 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

are brought to light by the change in the course of the 
streams, or by accidental discovery, they are certainly the 
most interesting of all the remains of extinct races. The 
great mammoth in this museum was found in 1799, on the 
banks of the river Lena in Siberia, and the flesh was so 
fresh upon it that the beasts and birds of prey were ready 
to devour it as soon as it was exposed. 

The chief interest in this Russian collection lies in the 
actual skin and hair and flesh of these animals so remarka- 
bly preserved. Here is a rhinoceros, but of a species- now 
extinct, with its head almost entirely covered with the origi- 
nal skin, and its feet also, the fine hair being still visible. 
The seals and otters, sharks and sea-horses, sword-fish and 
alligators, lions, tigers, bears, elks, and mooses ; birds of 
countless kinds, — make up an assortment wonderful in its 
extent and variety, and the more interesting as the pursuit 
of science has led to the gathering of splendid specimens 
from the tropical regions, to be contrasted with the aborigi- 
nal growth of these Arctic climes. 

It was the edge of evening as we returned from this ex- 
pedition, and the declining sun was flooding the river and 
the eastern shore with golden glory. We were tired; the even- 
ing was cool and refreshing ; the scene was beautiful, indeed 
exciting, as other boats and barges and steamers swept by 
us and ships and schooners swung listlessly in the stream. 

The Winter Palace and the Hermitage, the Alexander 
Column, the Admiralty Buildings, and other splendid edi- 
fices were on the western bank, the fortress and arsenal 
and academy on the east, and the domes of the Isaac and 
Kazan Cathedrals hung like suns in the sky. We seemed 
to be far away from home, and lost in an enchanted sea. 
We rowed along under the stern of a vessel and read her 
name, " Favorite, Arbroath ; " it sounded Scotchy, and 
hailing a sailor leaning over the ship's side, I asked him, , 
" Where's Arbroath ? " 

" Aboot twelve miles from Dundee," he said. 



RUSSIAN ART, CUSTOMS, AND MANNERS. 



321 



" And what brings you here ? " 

" The ship," he answered, and then added that the cargo 
was fire-brick, made in England, and brought here for the 
Russians, who make great use of it in their stoves. He did 
not hke the Russians, he said, and hoped he should never 
have to come there again. 

Our boatman landed us on the western shore, and as we 
walked up and down the river enjoying the evening breeze, 
he soon passed us with another company in his boat, and 
taking off his cap saluted us as old customers with a grace 
that would do credit to a Paris waterman. 

It was half-past nine o'clock when we saw the last rays 
of the sun on the spire of the arsenal church, and we then 
went home. It is now eleven o'clock at night, and I am 
writing by the light from the window opening into a court. 
It would be easy to write all night without a candle. 




A Russian Pokter. 



Z22 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

FROM ST. PETERSBURG TO MOSCOW. 

IV /TY roughest railroad ride in Europe was from St. 
Petersburg to Moscow. It did not improve the 
road to be told, as I was, that it was built by American 
engineers ; but it did jolt me so naturally that I felt at 
home as soon as we were under way. And there was a slight 
infusion of a familiar morality in the excuse made for the 
present condition of the road, that the managers of it under 
the government were seeking to buy it, and were letting it 
run down that they might get it at a lower figure ! 

A great throng of friends were at the station to take 
leave of the passengers about to set off for Moscow. It is 
a ride of about twenty hours ; hardly a journey to call for 
as much leave-taking as with us demands a voyage over sea. 
The journey of four hundred miles includes the whole night 
and part of two days, and only one train a day, with no good 
place to stop for the night, so that we are literally shut up 
to the necessity of going through at once. The arrange- 
ments for sleeping are of the rudest kind. Into the cars 
the passengers brought pillows and blankets, preparing to 
make themselves as comfortable as circumstances would 
permit. The fare through was $15, and my little trunk of 
less than fifty pounds weight was 1 1.50 extra. As soon as 
we were off, a man decorated with three medals entered 
with an armful of newspapers for sale, and as many bought 
them and read them as in a car going out of New York or 
Boston. It was a good sign. Small thanks are due to the 



FROM ST. PETERSBURG TO MOSCOW. 323 

government from the press, however. It is subjected to 
the strictest censorship. No foreign papers are allowed to 
come into the country, unless they are subscribed for by 
permission, and then they are interdicted if any thing dan- 
gerous to the existing order of things is in them. Nothing 
unfriendly to good morals is allowed to be printed, and an 
excellent regulation requires the examination and approval 
of all plays before they can be put upon the stage. These 
barbarians of the north will not have the luxury of the 
" dirty drama " which is so fascinating to the highly culti- 
vated Parisians and New Yorkers. 

A lady and gentleman entered the car as we were just 
starting, and could not get a double seat ; it was a long car 
like our own, with seats on each side of the passage. They 
could find separate seats, but they were to ride all night, and 
of course desired to sit side by side. They sought to make 
exchanges, but in vain. Seeing their distress, my son and 
I agreed to separate and surrender our places to them. 
Their gratitude was equal to their surprise. "We were 
French, they were sure." Not at all. " Ah no, we were 
English." By no means. " And pray, would we tell them 
of what nation .? " Americans : and they were nearly over- 
come with pleasure, and poured out their grateful ackowl- 
edgments. 

At Lubanskaia we stopped to dine, and you will be more 
amused by reading the names of some of the places we 
touched in passing, than by the names of the dishes we 
had for dinner. Thus we passed through Kolpinskaia, 
Sablinskaia, Ouschkinskaia, Babinskaia, Tehondoskaia, 
Volkhooskaia, Guadskaia, Mainvisheskaia, Bourgurnskaia, 
Borooenskaia, Okouloviskaia, Zarebchenkeskaia, Kalosch- 
kooskaia, Ostaschkooskaia, Reschchilkooskaia, Paadsulnel- 
chookaia ; but I am getting a headache in copying them 
out of the time-table, and will spare you. Wales is nothing 
to Russia for hard names. 



324 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

The Station-houses are well built, and refreshment rooms 
well supplied; so that you get comfortable meals on the 
route. 

At Tver we crossed the Volga, and here we had the first 
sight of that famous river. It is at this point downward 
navigable for steamers, and we might step on board of one 
and steam away two thousand miles to Astrachan ! Tver 
is a place of remarkable historical interest, which lingers 
around the cathedral and the monastery in which a bishop 
was murdered by order of John the Terrible, though his 
death was reported as occasioned by the fumes of a stove. 

As night drew on we learned that one car in the long 
train was fitted up for sleeping, and we were glad to pay a 
couple of roubles apiece for the chance of a horizontal nap. 
Toward midnight the process of reconstruction commenced. 
The long car is divided into four compartments, each eight 
feet square ; across each side is swung a shelf, the seats 
below are converted into berths, and two more are made tip 
on the floor ; a pillow of homoeopathic proportions is assigned 
to each passenger, and unless a man is afraid it will get 
into his ear he takes it. By a ladder of seven steps I 
ascended to the topmost perch, and there sought to rest. 
Alas ! the search was vain. My refuge in sleeplessness is 
to old-time hymns, and Watts often composes me to slum- 
ber as his cradle lullaby did when the best of mothers sang 
it in my infancy. But now the only lines that haunted me 
were these, and perfectly descriptive of my present expe- 
rience, — 

" So when a raging fever burns, 
We shift from side to side by turns ; 
And 'tis a poor relief we gain, 
To change the place and keep the pain." 

For half a dozen Russians sat together in this little cham- 
ber; all smoking, all laughing, all talking, and in that jar- 
gon of a language worse to hear than any other that ever 



FROM ST. PETERSBURG TO MOSCOW. 325 

crashed upon my auricular nerves. There was no railroad 
law to be invoked to stop them. We were two, they were 
six. They wanted to smoke and talk all night ; we were 
invalids, fighting for a wink of sleep. As the night wore 
on, they grew more earnest. At frequent stops by the way 
they rushed out and returned fortified with strong drink ; 
the smoke, the breaths, the smells, the talk became intoler- 
able. I put my woe-begone visage over the edge of the 
shelf, and arresting their attention by a groan, asked if any 
of them spoke the French language ? A military officer in 
uniform rose and said he did. Then in tearful accents I 
said, " You behold two American travellers who have paid 
for these luxurious couches to get a little rest in their weary 
travels. If you gentlemen are to keep up this discourse, 
sleep is as impossible as if we were under the tortures of the 
Inquisition ; is it too much to hope that you will soon suf- 
fer this discourse of yours to come to an end for the night, 
to be renewed at some future day." Before my speech was 
finished he had begun to laugh, and assuring me of his re- 
gret that we had been disturbed, he represented to his friends 
the wishes of two Amerikaners, and they soon turned in. 

In the morning, looking down from the shelf, I counted 
thirty-two stumps of cigars lying on the floor, in one quar- 
ter, and at least a. hundred must have been consumed in 
that one compartment. 

At half -past seven we stopped for coffee. A forlorn-look- 
ing set of men and women crept out for fresh air and re- 
freshment. They had been badly stayed with, all of them. 
But the longest night has its morning, and so had this. 
The coffee was good ; we paid five times as much for it as 
it was worth, even there, but we were comforted with the 
beverage. At one end of the car was a wash-bowl and 
water, and over it a notice : " Towel, 5 copakes ; soap, 1 5 
copakes," — so for about 20 cents you could have the use of 
everybody's towel and soap ! 



326 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

The face of the country improves as we get on. More 
trees, more hills, more culture, and signs of thrift on every 
hand. 

Into the car came a venerable ecclesiastic of the Greek 
type. A heavy gold cross was suspended from his neck 
and hung on his broad breast ; and his gray hair rested in 
curls on his shoulders. The scarlet and gold on his robes 
attracted the eye of the stranger, but he seemed to challenge 
no special attention from the people with whom he came in 
contact. We called him the Patriarch Nicon at once, for 
he came in upon us as at Krukova, which is the station where 
we would stop, if we had time to make a visit at the Monas- 
tery of New Jerusalem, or Voskresenski, which, being inter- 
preted, meaneth Resurrection. This monastery was founded 
in 1657 by the Patriarch Nicon, whose story is told by Dean 
Stanley in his lectures on the Greek Church, and condensed 
into the travel books in the hands of wanderers in these 
wilds. 

At this village of the Resurrection, Nicon, a patriarch 
of the Greek Church, was wont to stop in his journeys 
through the country, and in 1655 he built a church here, 
and the Czar of all the Russias did him the honor to come 
to its consecration and name it the New Jerusalem. Nicon 
obtained a model of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at 
old Jerusalem, and he made one like it here. He found 
hills and vales and brooks like those in the Holy Land, and 
gave them names to correspond, which they bear to this day, 
though two hundred years have since gone by. The river 
Istra became Jordan, and he made a little one for Kedron, 
and called a village at a distance Nazareth, and one nearer 
by was Bethany; and with these sacred associations he 
gathered around him the odor of sanctity, and with it 
came dreams of power and glory, such as priests are apt 
to have when they leave the service of God and substitute 
their own imaginings for the teachings of his word. The 



FROM ST. PETERSBURG TO MOSCOW. 32/ 

Czar saw -what he was at, and soon let him down from his 
Jerusalem. The Patriarch began to claim civil as well as 
sacerdotal power. Just as the Bishop of Rome became a 
king as well as priest, so Nicon would sway a sceptre as 
well as a shepherd's crook. He put stringent laws upon 
his inferior clergy, and they became restive under his au- 
thority. He rode into town on an ass in profane imita- 
tion of Christ, and the people could not see the sense of 
being compelled to cast their garments in the way of him 
who was so unlike the meek and lowly Jesus whom they 
would have loved to honor. His tyranny drove them to 
revolt, and many sects sprang up which even now continue 
to maintain their existence in the empire and in a certain 
hostility to the regular Greek Church of the empire. Ni- 
con grew more and more despotic, as his enemies grew 
formidable in numbers and power. He seized in the 
houses of the nobles, wherever he could find them, all 
pictures not painted in the style that pleased his royal 
will. In all his dealings with them he claimed the au- 
thority of the sovereign. He was fast becoming the pope 
of the north. At last the Emperor, no longer willing to 
acknowledge the lordly assumptions of this proud subject, 
refused to honor his festivals with the royal presence, or 
to recognize the Patriarch as spiritual father. Nicon was 
enraged at this slight, and thinking to humble the Czar, 
threw off his robes of office, resigned his crozier, and 
retired to his monastery at Resurrection. The sepulchre 
would have been a more fitting place for retirement. 
Hither he supposed the Czar would hasten, and with 
apologies, penitence, and tears beseech him to return and 
resume his reign. He reckoned without his host. The 
Czar could make and unmake such ecclesiastics, and he 
put another man in his place, and left poor Nicon to chew 
the cud of regret in his ignominious solitude. He stood 
it six years, and then sent word to the Czar that, after 



328 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

long fasting and prayer, he had been honored with a vision 
of the prophet Jonah, in a dream, who had told him it was 
his duty to resume his seat on the patriarchal throne of 
Moscow. But the Czar could not see it. Jonah said 
nothing to him about it, and he had an idea that un- 
happy Nicon might, indeed, have had a great many 
dreams of the same kind, but that Jonah was not the 
man to make patriarchs for him. He called a council of 
Eastern patriarchs, presided in the midst of it himself, and 
this council came very naturally to the decision that Nicon 
should be degraded and banished to a monastery in Nov- 
gorod. The next Czar who came to the throne pardoned 
Nicon, who soon after died. 

Such was the sad career of a great genius, whose brief 
reign was signalized by the aggrandizement of the Rus- 
sian Church, for he magnified five patriarchates, — Con- 
stantinople, Antioch, Alexandria, Jerusalem, and Moscow. 
And now his remains are lying in the Church of the 
Holy Sepulchre, which he built, in the chapel of Melchis- 
edek, at the foot of the Golgotha, and over his tomb hang 
the heavy chains which, to mortify his body, he wore 
around his person, while he put heavier chains on the 
souls of those whom • he reduced beneath his ghostly 
power. 

I think there is a lesson in the life and death of such 
a man, and that we may read in it the workings of 
human ambition and pride, even under the garments of 
holy offices ; we see the conflict between church and state, 
whenever they are allied, and the doom that awaits the 
men who pervert the institutions of religion to their own 
glory and the oppression of others. 

We are now approaching Moscow. Two thousand miles 
by rail we have come. The whole region over which we 
are now passing seems to be one dead level of lowly toil- 
ing, dreary living, without one sign of such enterprising 



FROM ST. PETERSBURG TO MOSCOW. 329 

life and energy as we would find in France or England, 
not to speak of that young world in the West, to which 
freedom seems to have taken her flight. 

The train is moving slowly into town. We have come 
to Moscow. We are at the gates of the Kremlin ! 



330 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

THE KREMLIN AND THE BELLS OF MOSCOW. 

'\/T BILLOT is a Swiss landlord, who keeps a good 
• hotel in Moscow. He has a charming wife and 
family around him, a well-trained corps of servants, and 
makes his house a home for American and English guests. 
It is something for a weary traveller to find a home when 
he gets to Moscow. 

I have but one fault to find with Moscow's bed and board. 
Mind, it is not a complaint against mine host, M. Billot. 
It is the fault of the city, that it is full of fleas. We 
charged upon them with a flea powder, the second night of 
our sojourn there, but the powder about M. Billot's pillows 
was as troublesome as the fleas. 

We had heard of this house and landlord ; for the Swiss 
go into all the countries of Europe, and some others, to 
keep the hotels. We found a connected line of them all 
through Spain, and in Italy, and they commend travellers 
to each other, as old neighbors ought to do. So, when we 
arrived at Moscow, we gave our baggage to M. Billot's 
man, he put us into a carriage, and away we were whirled 
over the roughest roads that we had ever endured in a city. 
Moscow seemed to be too small for its people, as the people 
appeared to be too sparse for St. Petersburg. The streets 
were thronged with people in the pursuit of business, and 
their market-places presented the liveliest scenes imagin- 
able. 

Frequent churches and shrines arrest us as we pass, for 
every Christian crosses himself before each of them ; even 



1,' ; ■ 1m liil 

''^^^ PI ' ,1 V- .! 

1,1 ;!. ^ 




332 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

the coachman in front of us drops his whip from his right 
hand, and makes the sacred sign on his breast, as he drives 
by the holy place. Some stand before it and humbly bow 
themselves at a great distance from the altar. 

Our way was winding, through streets that had no aim 
apparently, for after the city committed suicide in 1 8 1 3, on 
the coming of Napoleon, it was rebuilt in haste, without 
plan or purpose, but to get shelter for living and trade. 
But the city was spread out to a greater extent, and grad- 
ually houses of more architectural taste arose, with gardens 
about them, even in town. Here and there rises a splendid 
palace in the midst of the white cottages of humble neigh- 
bors, and the three hundred and seventy churches are inter- 
spersed, with their green or gilded cupolas and shining 
stars. We pass long rows of uniformly painted houses 
that belong to some public institution, and then we break 
in upon a wide square where the people seem to be gath- 
ered for some special purpose, and out of this square the 
streets extend on every side. Then we come to the high 
banks of the river Moskva, which flows through the midst 
of the city, and on either side of it are splendid edifices 
crowning the hills that rise from its side. The map of the 
city makes it appear circular. The circumvallation is twenty 
miles in extent, and within this are two concentric Hues of 
fortification, rendered necessary perhaps for defence, as this 
remarkable city is the outpost of civilization on the borders 
of barbarism. 

THE KREMLIN OF MOSCOW. 

I never had a very definite idea of the Kremlin of Mos- 
cow. It has been mentioned in books about Russia as a 
part of the city that every one must understand. The 
Acropolis of Athens and of Corinth, and the Capitoline 
Hill of Rome, enclosed with a wall to shut them off from 
the rest of the city, a refuge for the people in time of peril, 



THE KREMLIN AND THE BELLS OF MOSCOW. 333 

the site for the most sacred temples and the most gorgeous 
palace for the sovereign, would be the Kremlin of Athens, 
or Corinth, or Rome. As far back as in 1340, walls of oak 
enclosed these heights. A few years afterwards, to resist 
the Tartars, the wooden walls gave place to stone, but trea- 
son gave the fierce barbarian hordes possession of the 
citadel, and the walls were destroyed. They were built 
again and again, but in 1485, when it was needful to pro- 
tect *the Kremlin against the attack of artillery, the walls 
were rebuilt on a scale never before attempted. The solid 
and lofty stone walls now enclose an area of about a mile 
and a half in circumference. Five massive gates admit the 
flow of life to the temples of religion and of justice within 
this enclosure. The chief entrance is called the " Redeemer " 
Gate. The passage through the wall by this gate is like 
going through a railroad tunnel. It is a holy hole, for over 
it is a picture of the Redeemer of Smolensk, and lio one 
may pass under it without taking off his . hat. Formerly, 
whoever was so hasty or forgetful as to neglect this mark 
of respect, was punished by being compelled to prostrate 
himself fifty times before the insulted picture. The Em- 
peror of all the Russias never fails to uncover his head as 
he enters this gate. Hundreds were going in as I ap- 
proached : on foot, in droskies, in carriages, but all were 
mindful of the place, and entered as if they were going 
into a holy place. Between the Nicholas and Trinity Gates 
are the arsenal and great cannons, some of them monster 
guns, quite antiquated by modern progress, but formidable 
in their proper place ; and the long rows that are marked 
as left behind by the French in their retreat, tell a grim tale 
of the madness and folly of that disastrous campaign. 
Through this very Gate Nicholas, the French troops under 
Napoleon entered the Kremlin. Short as the stay of the 
Emperor was in the city, it was long enough for him to 
attempt to blow up the tower over this gate ; but a miracle, 



334 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

as the superstitious Russians believe, was wrought to pre- 
serve it ; for over the gate is a picture of St. Nicholas, " the 
comfort of suffering humanity," and when the explosion 
took place which was to blow this massive structure into 
ruins, it made a rent indeed, extending upward to the frame 
of the picture, and there it suddenly stopped, not cracking 
the glass over the picture, nor the glass lamp hanging 
before it ! And Alexander I. caused an inscription to be 
put up in memory of the miracle. 

We ascend the hill and stand upon a wide paved plateau, 
or esplanade, with a scene immediately around, before, and 
below us, of interest, grandeur, beauty, and novelty. A 
cloudless sky and a blazing sun are over us. All the build- 
ings are dazzling in whiteness, and the domes of thirty-two 
churches within the Kremlin, and hundreds below and 
around, are blazing at noon-tide in their gold and green. 
Each one of three hundred and seventy churches has sev- 
eral domes, and besides them there are theatres and palaces, 
and convents and other public buildings, roofs painted 
green, sides white, and gilt overlaying domes, turrets, and 
spires. Gardens filled with trees, among the dwellings, 
as in more Oriental cities, and the river circling its way 
into and out of the town, give us some idea of what Baby- 
lon or Nineveh might have been in their vast enclosure 
and picturesque rural attractions within their massive 
walls. 

In the midst of the Kremlin, and above every other 
structure in Moscow, rises toward the sky the white, solid, 
simple Tower of Ivan ; majestic in its simplicity and height, 
as if it were the axis about which this fairy world of Mos- 
cow was revolving, it stands sublimely there, with a bell of 
444,000 pounds at its foot, and another of 130,000 swing- 
ing in its crown. 

At the foot of the Ivan Tower, supported by a pedestal 
of stone, is the largest bell in the world, and probably the 



THE KREMLIN AND, THE BELLS OF MOSCOW. 



335 




rJLAK OI THE CENTEIE Of 3iO SlOA CITY; 



SvalaafReb, 



A, THE KREMLIN. 



1. Uspenski Sohore, or Cathedral. 

2. Archangehkoi Sobore. 

3. Anniinciatio7t Church. 

4. Spass 11a Born Church. 

5. Birth of the Virgin Church. 

6. Granovitaya Palata. 

7. Cotirt Church. 

8. Uair the Martyr Church. 

g. Cojistantine and Helen Church. 
10. Ivanovskaya Kolokolnya. 



ri. Twelve Apostles Church, 

12. Holy Synod Office. 

13. Chudor Monastery 

14. Voznesenskoi Nujinery. 

15. Our Saviour's Gate. 

16. >S"/?. Nicholas^ Gate. 

17. Trinity Gate. 

18. Borovitskiya Gate. 

19. Z'/i^ Secret Gates. 



B. THE KITAI GOROD. 



1. Pokrovskoi Sobore. 

2. Kazanskoi Sobore. 

3. Jverskaya Chapel 

4-25. Churches atid Monasteries ; amongst 
which No 7 2'^ ^A^ Church of the Mother of 
God of Vladimir ; aiid No- 15, tJte Church 
of the Mother of God of Georgia', 



26. Varvarskiya Gate> 

27. Ilyinskiya Gate. 

28. Nikolskiya Gate. 
2q. Voskrescnskoi Gate. 

30. Monumefit of Minim and 
Pojarskii- 



336 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

largest that ever was in the world. A piece is broken out 
of its side, and the fragment is lying near. The breadth 
of the bell is so great, — it is twenty feet across, — that the 
cavity underneath has been used as a chapel, where as 
many people can stand as in a circle ^ixty feet around. 

In Russia, the bell is an instrument of music for the wor- 
ship of God as truly and really as the organ in any other 
country ! This fact is not mentioned in the accounts we 
have of the wonderful, enormous, and almost incredibly 
heavy bells that have been cast in Moscow. But it is the 
key to what would otherwise be difficult to explain. It 
appears absurd to cast bells so large as to be next to im- 
possible for convenient use ; in danger always of falling and 
dragging others to ruin in their fall. But when the bell is 
a medium of communication with the Infinite, and the wor- 
ship of a people and an empire finds expression in its ma- 
jestic tones, it ceases to be a wonder that it should have a 
tongue which requires twenty-four men to move, and 
whose music should send a thrill of praise into every 
house in the city, and float away beyond the river into 
the plains afar. 

Moscow is the holy city of the Greek Church. Pil- 
grims come hither from thousands of miles off, and on 
foot, and sometimes without shoes. I have seen them 
with staves in their hand, and their travel-worn feet 
wound up in cloths, wending their way to the sacred hill. 
And when they draw nigh unto the city, and on the even- 
ing air the music of these holy bells is first borne to their 
ears, they fall upon their faces, prostrate, and worship God. 
If they could go no further, they would be content to die 
there, for they have heard the bells of Moscow, and on 
their majestic tones their souls have been taken up to 
heaven. This is the sentiment of the superstitious peas- 
ant, and it is a beautiful sentiment, ideal indeed, but all 
the more delicate and exalted. 



THE KREMLIN AND THE BELLS OF MOSCOW. 337 

As long as five hundred years ago, this casting of bells 
was an art in Russia. It is one of the fine arts now. Per- 
haps our great bell-founders will not admit that the found- 
ers there have any more skill in their manufacture than 
we have, and I am not sure that their bells have any tones 
more exquisite than ours would have if we would put as 
much silver and gold into our bell-metal as they do. But 
so long as those precious metals are at the present pre- 
mium, little or none of them will find its way into our 
church bells. We have not the idea of the Russian as to 
the use of a bell. We use it to call the people to the house 
of worship. They use the bell for worship. Our bells 
speak to us. Their bells praise God. They cast their 
silver and their gold into the molten mass, and it becomes 
an offering, as on an altar, to him who is worshipped with 
every silvery note and golden tone of the holy bell. 

This one great bell is the growth of centuries. In 1553 
it was cast, and weighed only 36,000 pounds. It fell in a 
fire, and was recast in 1654, being increased to the aston- 
ishing weight of 288,000 pounds. This was too vast a 
weight to be taken up to the top of the tower, and it was 
sustained by a frame at the foot of it. In 1706, it fell in 
another fire and was broken into fragments, which lay 
there on the ground about thirty years. It was recast 
in 1733 ; four years afterwards a piece was knocked out 
of the side of it, and it has been standing here on the 
ground more than a century. It weighs 444,000 pounds ! 
In the thickest part it is two feet through. It has relief 
pictures on it of the Emperor and Empress, of the Saviour 
and the Virgin Mary, and the evangelists. 

Ascending the Ivan Tower, we find on three successive 
stories bells to the number of thirty-four. Some of these 
are of a size to fill one with astonishment had he not seen 
the giant below. The largest is on the first story above 
the chapel, and weighs more than sixty tons. It swings 



<33S ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

freely and is easily rung. I smote it with the palm of my 
hand, supposing that such a blow could not produce the 
slightest vibration in such a mighty mass of iron, but it 
rung out as clear and startling as if a spirit within had 
responded to my knock without. Two bells are of solid 
silver, and their tones are exquisitely soft, liquid, and pure. 
It was exciting to go from one to another and strike them 
with their tongues, or with your hand, and catch the va- 
riety and richness of their several melodies. 

The chapel below is dedicated to the patron saint of all 
ladies about to be married, and it may be readily believed 
that the bell that gives expression to their prayers will 
have, at least to their ears, the sweetest tone of all the 
bells in Moscow. 

I came down from the Kremlin to my lodgings at Bil- 
lot's, and, wearied with the wanderings of the day, have 
been lying on the bed and looking out on the city. It is 
just before sunset, and the day has been oppressively warm. 
A delicious glow from the gorgeous west is bathing all the 
domes and roofs with splendid colors, and silence is steal- 
ing in with the setting sun upon the crowded town. It is 
the eve of one of their most holy festivals of the church. 
One vast church edifice is directly in view of my window 
and but a short way off. As I lie musing, from this church 
comes the softest, sweetest tone of an evening bell. An- 
other tone responds. A third is heard. The Ivan Tower 
on the height of the Kremlin utters his tremendous voice, 
like the voice of many waters. And all the churches and 
towers over the whole city, four hundred bells and more, in 
concert, in harmony, *' with notes almost divine," lift up 
their voices in an anthem of praise, such as I never thought 
to hear with mortal ears : waves of melody, an ocean 
of music, deep, rolling, heaving, changing, swelling, sink- 
ing, rising, overwhelming, exalting. I had heard the great 
organs of Europe, but they were tame and trifling com- 



THE KREMLIN AND THE BELLS OF MOSCOW. 339 

pared with this. The anthem of Nature at Niagara is 
one great monotone. The music of Moscow's bells is 
above and beyond them all. It is the voice of the people. 
It utters the emotions of millions of loving, beating, long- 
ing hearts, not enlightened, perhaps, like yours, but all 
crying out to the great Father, in these solemn and 
inspiring tones, as if these tongues had voices to cry : 
" Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, heaven and earth 
are full of thy glory." 



340 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

THE CHURCHES OF MOSCOW. 

T T 7E were alone in the holiest of all the holy places in 
' ' the empire of Russia : a church and a sepulchre ; the 
place where the emperors crown themselves and the pri- 
mates of the church are lying in their grave-clothes all 
around ; the grandest of all earthly grandeur, and the 
solemn evidences of the mightier power of King Death 
staring at the pageant in mockery of all that man is and 
does. 

We were alone in the Cathedral of the Assumption ; four 
gigantic gilded and pictured columns in the midst of it sup- 
port five great domes ; and on the sides are arranged the 
huge sarcophagi in which repose the bones of old patriarchs 
whose names are part of the history of the church, and 
whose relics are thus kept near at hand impressing the 
worshipper with something of awe, as one will feel it in the 
presence of the dead. There was no attendant in the church 
when we entered, and the deep silence reigning seemed be- 
fitting the place. We were silent, for the grandeur of the 
scene, the historic associations with the place, the evidences 
around us that this spot is holy in the eyes and hearts of 
the millions of this vast empire, made us solemn. Before 
us is the Iconastasis, or screen for sacred pictures, and 
behind this screen are the pictures of the patriarchs and 
fathers of the church. No woman may enter this holy place. 
It is very plain that the woman's rights ideas of equality 
have not penetrated this veil. Here, too, are views of the 
final judgment scene, and of the life and death of the Virgin 



THE CHURCHES OF MOSCOW. 34I 

Mary. These sacred pictures surround the sanctuary, the 
holy of hoUes, before it is the principal altar, and behind it 
the throne of the Archbishop of Moscow. In the centre 
of the church, with the four great pillars at each corner, is 
the coronation platform, on which takes place the most 
august ceremony known to the Greek Church or the Rus- 
sian people. We cannot enter fully into the sentiment of 
awe that possesses the minds of a half-civilized race, who 
receive their sovereign with a mingled conception of the 
divine and human in his person. He seeks to perpetuate 
this reverential sentiment. He secludes himself from the 
world before he comes to take the imperial crown ; he mor- 
tifies himself by fasting and prayer ; and when the appointed 
day arrives for his investiture with the high office to which 
God has called him, there is none in all his realm that is 
high and holy enough to put on him the emblem of the 
power he is to take. This cathedral is thronged with the 
highest dignitaries of church and state, and the representa- 
tives of other empires, eastern and western, with the rich- 
est display of all that can illustrate the glory of this scene. 
They surround this empty platform, and gaze upon it with 
fixed expectancy. A solitary man enters and ascends alone ; 
he speaks, but it is to repeat the words in which is expressed 
his faith in the doctrines of the church ; he kneels to pray 
for his empire ; he takes his own golden crown, and with 
his own unaided hands he places it upon his head ; he de- 
scends, and entering the holiest sanctuary takes the bread 
and wine from the altar, and thus alone with God, whom 
alone he confesses to be his superior, he consecrates him- 
self to the throne of Russia. Thus from Ivan the Terrible, 
all the way down to the Alexander who was shot at in Paris 
during the exhibition, have the Czars been self-crowned on 
this sacred spot. 

In a side chapel near the altar lies Peter, the first metro- 
politan of Moscow, with a nail of the Saviour's cross and a 



THE CHURCHES OF MOSCOW. 343 

part of his seamless robe. On the right is the coffin of 
PhiHp, who had the courage to rebuke the Terrible Ivan, a 
terribly brutal ruler, murdering his nobles without mercy, 
and when Philip became too troublesome he murdered him. 
Now the dead prelate lies here with one of his skeleton 
hands exposed to view on his breast, and it is part of the 
Emperor's service, when he approaches this tomb, to kiss 
the holy bone, that is left convenient for the purpose. 

Very like this cathedral is that of the Archangel Michael 
close by; and here lie the coffins and relics of the early 
rulers of the Runic and Romanoff dynasties, all the way 
down to Peter the Great. The tomb of Demetrius, son of 
Ivan the Terrible, is the most sacred of all ; he disappeared 
mysteriously, and the country was plunged into a long and 
bloody civil war ; and, finally, his murdered body and coffin 
were brought to view by a miracle, and the forehead of the 
dead prince being exposed, or a hole about an inch in 
diameter being cut through the coffin and the forehead 
raised up to it, or what is just as good, a bone being put 
across the hole, the people approach with reverence and 
press their lips upon this holy and disgusting skull. 

Our meditations among the tombs were disturbed by the 
entrance of visitors, many of them natives of the country, 
whose reverence in the midst of so much that to them was 
specially sacred, we could not fail to respect. I cannot kiss 
a bone with any enthusiasm ; but there is no accounting 
for the tastes of people ; and disgusting as is the idolatry 
of the Greek Church to me> I know that many English and 
American Christians wish to have that church united to 
theirs. I would like to see it reformed first. 

There are no restrictions on religious worship in Russia ! 
On one street in the capital of Russia, where the Emperor 
himself resides, and the Greek Church reigns in all its glory, 
there are six churches of as many different religious per- 
suasions, all protected by the law. 



344 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

The English have a church of their own in Moscow, and 
a rectory, for there are a large number of English-speaking 
people in these cities, not only men in trade, but tutors and 
governesses who are induced to come to Russia from Eng- 
land to teach the children and youth the English language. 
It is quite as great an accomplishment to speak English, as 
with us it is to speak French. And such is the extension 
of business westward, it is quite important that one who 
is in commercial pursuits of any kind should understand a 
language which more rapidly than any other is spreading 
over the world. We meet more Russians speaking our 
own tongue than of almost any other people. 

During the Crimean war complaint was made to the 
Emperor that the English chaplain in Moscow offered 
prayers every Sunday that Queen Victoria might be vic- 
torious over all her enemies, and the Emperor replied that 
the chaplain might pray for the Queen or anybody else. 

In the city of Moscow there are three hundred and 
seventy churches of the Greek faith, two Roman Catholic, 
and four Protestant ; of these four, two are for those who 
worship in the German language, one French, and one 
English. 

On the Sabbath I attended the Greek service in the St. 
Basil Cathedral. The crowd was so vast that multitudes 
were unable to get within the doors. A narrow door at 
the side yielded to the touch, and the sacristan received us 
as st'rangers and conducted us into the holy place where 
the priests were performing service. A choir of five — two 
old men, two young men, and a boy — made the responses 
and sang parts of the service with an energy and power 
that was exciting and astonishing as we stood by them and 
saw the effort they made to give effect to their utterances. 
The devotion of the crowded auditory was affecting. If 
one may judge of emotion by what he sees of people wor- 
shipping in a strange language, he must believe that these 



I 



THE CHURCHES OF MOSCOW. 345 

are truly devout, and deeply impressed with the services in 
which they are earnestly engaged. 

It is Trinity Sunday. Wagon loads of green branches 
of trees are carried through the streets for sale. Every 
house, shop, shrine, church, and station is adorned with 
evergreens ; windows and doors are garlanded ; the hum- 
blest house in the poorest quarter we passed through had 
its sprig of green, and where the poverty of the person pre- 
vented any display, it was evident that no one was ashamed 
to do what he could in honor of the day. The women and 
children carried flowers, the lily of the valley seeming to 
be the favorite ; and bunches of it were constantly offered 
for sale, by those who would do a little business for them- 
selves and help the rest to worship after their fashion. 

We went up the Kremlin to the Archangel Cathedral. 
Thousands on thousands of people, a countless multitude, 
were standing around the Ivan Tower and the big bell, un- 
able to gain entrance into any church, for these were all 
filled to overflowing by the densest mass of sweltering 
humanity. Many of this crowd were common and unclean 
people, like the very poor everywhere ; they were ragged, 
unshod, and dirty. Those in better order had long frock- 
coats on, reaching to the ground nearly, with high boots 
over their pantaloons. These crowds were quiet, lounging 
around as if they had nothing to do and were doing it 
patiently, but not earnestly. They seemed to me a dull, 
phlegmatic race, incapable of emotion; but this is a judg- 
ment of no great account, for it is not unlikely the Russians 
may be as easily roused to action, for good or evil, as the 
Germans or English. 

Work of all sorts was going on in the city, with not the 
slightest indication that the day was a sabbath. It was 
only wonderful that so many people could be busy with the 
work of every day, and such multitudes at leisure to enjoy 
a holiday. 



34^ ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

Now and then a procession of poor pilgrims passed along, 
with sandals of bark bound upon the soles of their feet, for 
they had come a long distance from the far interior to wor- 
ship in this holy city. Weary and foot-sore they were, men 
and women, in scanty, but heavy clothing, even in this hot 
weather, and wearing a look of solemn suffering as they 
trudged along with staves in their hands. They have not 
yet learned that the hill of Zion is now as near to them as 
in the Kremlin, and that God is worshipped acceptably 
only by those who worship in heart and truth. Some of 
these pilgrims may be beggars so disguised, for here, as at 
home, there is no form of swindling more common than 
religious imposture. The Russians are very kind and ten- 
der to idiots, and beggars go about barefoot even in winter, 
pretending to be underwitted ! 

On the wide area in front of St. Basil is the Golgotha, or 
skull place, a name given to a circular stone platform, said 
to be the place of public executions in old times, but if so, 
it has long since ceased to be used for any such purpose. 
Here the Czar sometimes stands in the midst of myriads of 
his subjects. Here the Patriarch blesses the people. Here 
the Patriarch has mounted an ass and the Emperor of all 
the Russias has led the beast by the bridle to the Cathe- 
dral of the Assumption. But the church has no such 
supremacy over the state now, as such a ceremony would 
imply. The Czar is a devout member as well as head of 
the Greek Church, and the Patriarch is his friend and co- 
adjutor. The progress of the truth on the great question 
of religious liberty has made itself felt here as well as in 
western nations, and with all the ignorance and despotism 
and superstition, and the semi-civilization of this people, the 
government does not obstruct the spread of the Holy Scrip- 
tures, nor interfere with liberty of worship in any part of 
the mighty empire. 

One of the priests of this church very kindly led us into 



THE CHURCHES OF MOSCOW. 34/ 

the sacristy of the former patriarchs and now of the Holy 
Synod, where he would show us the treasury, the library, 
and the vestry of the ancient metropolitans of Russia and 
the patriarchs of Moscow. It was the same old story which 
had been told us over and over again in the cathedrals of 
the Romish Church, ad nauseam ; and unless we had been 
advertised of the fact, we would not have supposed that we 
had taken a departure from Italy or Spain. 

A reliquary containing a part of the purple robe which 
the Saviour of sinners was clad with in mockery of his 
kingship, and a bit of the rock of Calvary, are among the 
most precious relics which this rich collection boasts ; yet 
they are not more admired by the faithful than the robes 
which were worn by the metropolitans five hundred years 
ago, and are now exhibited ; a sakkos of crimson velvet, 
covered with great pearls, rubies, emeralds, almandines, 
garnets, and diamonds, making it weigh more than fifty 
pounds. And it is said that the Czar John the Terrible 
presented this priceless robe to the church as an expiatory 
offering after he had caused his own son to be murdered. 
The crimson garment, price of blood or not, is cherished 
with religious care as one of the most valuable things in 
the treasury of the Holy Synod. 

But it is more wearisome to read of, than it is to see and 
note the robes and mitres and images worn by the bishops, 
figures of the Virgin and infant Saviour and St. John, cut 
in precious stones, the crucifixion scene done on an onyx 
stone, and others in gold and silver. Yet all these yield 
in value and religious interest to a few pots and kettles 
which are used in this chamber, and were now presented 
to what were presumed to be our admiring eyes. It may 
be that our instantaneous conversion to the Greek faith was 
anticipated as the effect of the sight. We stood it un- 
moved, and will venture to describe the things seen with 
no expectation that the perusal will make a convert of you. 



348 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

Here is prepared the Holy Oil, or Mir, with which every 
orthodox Russian subject is baptized. The same mixture 
is used to consecrate every emperor who comes regularly 
to the throne, and to sanctify every church in the empire 
that is to be used for worship by the orthodox Greek com- 
munion. Now, if all the oil to be used for all these pur- 
poses, in an empire of sixty millions of people and by the 
adherents of the same church in other countries, is to be 
prepared in this room and by the priests here employed, it 
is plain they must have their hands and kettles full pretty 
much all the time. 

The ceremony of oiling a child in the Greek Church, at 
its baptism, is performed by the priest taking a little brush 
or feather, dipped in the holy chrism, and touching with it 
the mouth, eyes, ears, hands and feet, back and breast ; the 
eyes are thus anointed that the child may see only what is 
good, the ears to prevent him hearing the evil that is in the 
world, the lips that they may speak the truth, the hands 
and feet that they may be always found in the right way. 
Whence this oil that has such wondrous properties } When 
Christianity was first introduced into Russia, Constantinople 
furnished an infinitely little portion of holy oil that was 
then in use in the church for these sacred purposes ; and 
this portion being used by the priests in preparing a large 
quantity, and some of that being used in preparing more, 
and thus from time to time each new supply being com- 
posed in part of what was prepared before, it comes to pass, 
on the strictly philosophical principle of the infinite divisi- 
biUty of matter, some of the same unguent that came from 
Constantinople many centuries agone, is now used in an- 
ointing the eyes, ears, and mouth of every child that is 
baptized in Russia. If you do not believe it, it still comes 
to the same thing, and I do not see that it makes any dif- 
ference. 

The holy chrism is made by the clergy during Lent, 



THE CHURCHES OF MOSCOW. 349 

with great care and solemnity ; about thirty different in- 
gredients being used, gums, balsams, and spices. These 
are put into two large silver kettles and a huge caldron, 
scrupulously clean ; and when the mixture is thoroughly 
made it is poured out into sixteen silver jars, which are 
distributed among the several bishops of the empire. The 
silrer utensils used in this work, and all of which are ex- 
hibited as the most sacred treasures of the church, are said 
to weigh thirteen hundred pounds. And with them is a 
vessel of copper with mother-of-pearl coating, that con- 
tained the original oil as it came from Constantinople ; and 
each year a few drops are taken out of it, and as many of 
the new mixture returned, so that the supply is always 
kept good, and the faithful of the church believe that this 
is the true succession of the oil with which Mary anointed 
the feet of her Saviour. 



350 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

PALACE AND INSTITUTIONS OF MOSCOW. 

TF you are weary reading of royal palaces, you will be 
sorry to be invited to the one more gorgeously adorned 
and illustrated than any other which you and I have en- 
tered in company. You have often heard of, and perhaps 
have seen, some specimens of barbaric splendor ! You 
have associated with the word barbaric^ ideas of Oriental 
and excessive magnificence, laid on without the more 
refined and chastened taste of modern civilization. It is 
a word the old Romans used to define foreign people^ and 
whatever came to Rome from foreign parts : all the world 
was barbarous or Roman. We do not use the word in the 
same sense as barbarous. But with it, in connection with 
gold and pearls and decorations of the palace, we associate 
a wealth of luxury and brilliancy of ornamentation, that 
would suit the meridian of Persia rather than of Paris. 

Not having seen the palaces of the interior of Asia, I 
cannot draw a comparison between them and the royal 
residences of European monarchs. But we are now on the 
border between the East and the West, between Asia and 
Europe, between barbarism in its best estate and civiliza- 
tion. Take a map of the world and see where Moscow 
stands ! What vast, uncultured, desolate regions lie at the 
east of it, and still further on, what empires and peoples 
that make up the bulk of the human race ! Out of the 
barbarism of that eastern portion of the earth's plane, 
Russia is emerging, and Moscow is her frontier town ; a 



PALACE AND INSTITUTIONS OF MOSCOW. 35 1 

wall and a monument : a sign and guide, signifying what 
Russia has been, and leading on to something higher and 
better, though the future is still in the depths of political 
and moral uncertainties. 

The Tartar hordes have in ages past been fond of making 
raids upon Moscow, and leaving her palaces heaps of smok- 
ing ruins. In old times the Russians built them of wood 
for the most part, though one of stone erected in 1484 is 
still standing. Then the Czars removed the capital to 
St. Petersburg, and for a long time the Kremlin was with- 
out a palace or an emperor. The celebrated Empress 
Anne gave Moscow a palace, and her presence now and 
then, and Catharine II. designed a royal residence so vast 
and gorgeous as to rival the palaces of the world, but it 
was never finished ; its model is preserved as a curiosity in 
the treasury. What she did build, the French wantonly 
burned when they were compelled to desert the city which 
its own inhabitants had consigned to destruction. This 
house, at the doors of which we have been standing while 
I have given you these historical facts, is the work of the 
late Nicholas, and is only about twenty years old. It has 
no likeness in the various orders of architecture ; there is 
no correspondence or harmony between the within and 
without of it : yet the whole interior is a blaze of gold and 
upholstery that leaves all rules of taste and art out of the 
question. We pass through the Empress's drawing-room, 
hung with white silk, her cabinet in crimson, her dressing 
and bath rooms with malachite mantels and priceless orna- 
ments ; the Emperor's cabinet, with magnificent paintings of 
the proud French coming into Moscow, and the poor French 
skulking out, — grim satires these on the horrors and for- 
tunes of war ; the state apartments, with huge crystal 
vases at the entrance ; the Hall of St. George, with the 
names of regiments and soldiers inscribed in gold upon the 
walls, who have been decorated with this order for bravery 



352 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

on the field ; the Hall of St. Andrew, hung with blue silk, 
and inscribed with the names of heroes ; the Emperor's 
throne, more ostentatious and imposing than any other in 
Europe ; the audience-chamber and banqueting-room, on 
which is lavished the last resource of gilt and paint to 
make a show, — and yet when we are ushered into the Gold 
Court, all former magnificence is for the moment forgotten 
in the dazzling splendor that fills the place, as if the walls 
were blazing with living golden light. A flight of steps at 
one end of the room, called '' the red stair case," is never 
trodden upon but when the Emperor, on the greatest of all 
occasions, goes to the Cathedral of the Assumption. This 
is part of the old palace begun by Catharine, and has a his- 
tory running back to the time when John the Terrible stood 
here and saw the comet that he construed into an omen of 
his doom. And up this flight of stairs came Napoleon, the 
greatest of actors, when he took possession of the palace 
of the Kremlin. And when he went down these stairs he 
began that descent which never stopped till he touched the 
bottom of his tomb. 

The right wing of the palace is the treasury building, 
with the most remarkable collection of objects to be seen 
in Russia. The Tower of London illustrates England as 
this museum tells the history of the Russian empire. Her 
past and present intercourse with the Asiatic nations, and 
her more modern commercial relations with the West, have 
made Moscow the emporium of all that distinguishes her 
ancient and modern commerce, and exchange of presents 
when treaties have been made. What riches of plate, 
jewels, silks, manufactures, which China, India, Persia, 
Armenia, and other powers, peoples, and tribes have poured 
into the lap of this colossal power in the progress of centu- 
ries ! When the French were coming, the prudent Rus- 
sians, foreseeing the evil, removed these pearls and diamonds 
and rubies, these vessels of gold and silver, these costly 



PALACE AND INSTITUTIONS OF MOSCOW. 353 

fabrics of art and toil which could never be replaced, and 
concealed them far in the interior, where the feet of the 
enemy would not be apt to follow them. 

Among the historical curiosities here preserved with 
religious care, the traveller from the land of liberty views 
with sorrow and indignation the throne of Poland ! Other 
thrones, as trophies of conquered kingdoms, stand near. 
One of ivory was brought from Constantinople in 1472. 
Another is from Persia, taken as long ago as 1660. It 
is covered with ^yG diamonds, 1,223 rubies, and many other 
precious stones. Blazing in front of these thrones is an 
orb, which the Greek emperors, Basilius and Constantine, 
sent to Wladimir Monomachus, Prince of Kief, with a 
piece of the true cross ! This orb is adorned with fifty- 
eight diamonds, eighty-nine rubies, twenty-three sapphires, 
fifty emeralds, and thirty-seven other stones, and with 
enamels colored in the highest style of Grecian art, to 
tell the story of King David, of the land of Israel. 

One of the most wonderful institutions of Moscow is the 
hospital for foundlings, into which about twelve thousand 
children are taken yearly. As many, if not more, are 
received into a similar institution in St. Petersburg. It is 
said that no cities in the world surpass those of Russia in 
the comforts provided for the care of these outcasts from 
the birth, the most forlorn and helpless of all the objects 
that appeal to human sympathy. The government makes 
a yearly grant of about a million of dollars to this hos- 
pital in Moscow, and it has large resources besides, so that 
there is no lack of funds to meet the wants of these unfor- 
tunate little people, whose fathers and mothers forsaking 
them are taken up by the Lord. 

In some cities I have seen a table made to revolve outside 
the walls of the asylum, and in, so that a child could be 
placed upon it outside, and on the door-bell being rung the 
table would be set in motion, and the infant is gently rolled 

23 



354 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

into the house. The mother or friend who brought the child 
and laid it upon the table would thus be relieved of its 
charge, and would silently depart, leaving the child, yet 
utterly unseen and unknown. This system has its advan- 
tages, and many attendant evils. But here in Moscow they 
affect no such mystery about the matter. The hospital 
receives the infant children of poor and honest parents 
who are willing to give their babes to the state, and it also 
takes the offspring of sin and shame who are brought by 
their mothers or left on the highway and picked up by the 
police or the wayfarer. A reception-room is always open. 
A man or woman enters with a babe. No question is 
asked but these : — 

^' Has the child been baptized ? " 

If yes, " By what name ? " If it has not been baptized, 
that sacrament is at once administered, and the name given 
is registered opposite a number, which is hereafter worn as 
a sign around its neck, and this number is handed to the 
person who brings the child. This number entitles the 
bearer to come back any time within ten years and claim 
the child. The nurses are mothers who have left their own 
children in the country, and come here to get the wages 
and living in the hospital, which are far better than they 
enjoy at home. And some of the nurses are the mothers 
whose children are here, and as they have the number that 
marks their own, they can easily change about till they get 
the care of the babe they seek to watch, without its ever 
being known to be theirs. 

Nothing is now wanting that medical skill and good 
nursing can supply to preserve the lives of these orphans. 
We go from ward to ward, admiring the cleanliness, 
order, and comfort on every side. The babes are bathed 
in copper tubs, convenient in shape, and lined with thick 
flannel. They are not laid on the hard knees or sharp 
hoops of unfeeling nurses to be dressed, but they are suf- 



PALACE AND INSTITUTIONS OF MOSCOW. 355 

fered to lie on pillows of down while this operation is 
performed. After four weeks of such tender care, and 
when the child may be supposed to have gained some 
strength, they are sent with their nurses into the coun- 
try. They are, however, exposed to such a climate, and 
the fare of the peasantry is so coarse, that it takes a tough 
child to weather the first year of life, and at least one-half 
of them die before they are twelve months old. Half of 
the remainder who survive the year fall by the way before 
they grow up ; and so it comes to pass that only one quar- 
ter, twenty-five out of a hundred, of these children of the 
state live to be men and women. This is a small pro- 
portion, and it is quite likely that full as many of them 
would have lived to grow up, if there had been no hospital 
to care for them. 

Another institute we find here in Moscow that has 
nothing to match it, and cannot have in our democratic 
country. The female orphan children of servants of the 
Emperor are taken into it, and eight hundred are constantly 
receiving an education to fit them for being teachers ! 
They are bound to devote six years after they leave the 
institute to the business of teaching in the interior of the 
empire. They have a small salary, and thus provide for 
themselves while they are doing a good work for the state. 
No foundlings are admitted into this house. The orphans 
are all supposed to be children of honest parents, and this 
supposition keeps up a higher tone of self-respect than 
would be possible among a thousand children who did not 
know who their parents are. 

Wolves in sheep's clothing we have read of in the figure 
language of the Bible, but men in sheep's clothing I had 
never seen till I met them to-day, in midsummer, in the 
market-places of Moscow. They could have but one suit 
of clothing, and to cover their nakedness must wear it 
summer and winter. It was made, " coat and pants," of 



356 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

sheepskin with the wool on, and was worn by some with 
the wool outside, and by others with the wool in. On a 
day like this of sweltering heat, when it was not safe for 
us to walk in the sun without parasols, these natives of the 
north, with their winter clothes on, were not apparently 
oppressed ; and it was a comfort to believe that they had 
become accustomed to it, and had no idea of any thing 
more enjoyable than an indefinite degree of heat. 

As winter is the longer half of the year, it is the harvest 
time for those who are in the line of buying and selling 
meats and all provisions that are preserved by frost. As 
soon as the cold weather fairly sets in, the fatted cattle and 
pigs and poultry are doomed to die by the hands of the 
butcher. The carcasses are instantly frozen and sent to 
market. Here it is packed up in enormous heaps, and 
families who are able to buy at wholesale prices lay in their 
winter supplies, and those who live from hand to mouth 
can buy at any time fresh meat that was killed in the fall. 
The weather is so uniformly cold that little danger of a 
thaw is apprehended, but if it comes, away goes the meat. 
And it must at any time be cooked immediately on thaw- 
ing, so that it is rather a precarious mode of preserving 
provisions. But it is adapted to the country and climate, 
it saves packing and salting, and has the advantage of 
furnishing fresh meat, at moderate prices, at all times. 
The fish from the White Sea are also kept, like wood- 
piles, in heaps with oxen and sheep and deer. The flesh 
of mammoths and elephants of past ages has been found 
in perfect preservation in the icy regions of the north, and 
it is certainly one of the remarkable provisions of nature 
that cold, which is so destructive of animal life, should also 
be the preserver of flesh, for indefinite periods, after the 
life principle has been extinguished. 

The Jews in Chatham Street, New York, who press 
their wares upon the notice of passers by, are modest 



PALACE AND INSTITUTIONS OF MOSCOW. 2>S7 

compared with the vendors of old clothes and miscellane- 
ous matters in the markets of Moscow. It was hard to get 
away from them without making an investment in the most 
undesirable of all worldly goods, — a coat that somebody 
else had cast off. And such a jumble of things ! remind- 
ing one of the sign on the country store window-shutter 
of an alHterative dealer: ''Bibles, Blackball, Butter, Tes- 
taments, Tar, Treacle, Godly-books, and Gimlets, for sale 
here." Ironware, pot-metal, in the shape of utensils for 
cooking, seemed to abound ; and if the poorer people, who 
are the buyers here, have any thing to cook, it is very 
pleasant to know it. Their food is mainly milk, eggs, 
pickles, cabbage, and black bread, with beef and mutton 
according to their ability to buy it. As a general thing the 
Russian peasants are not underfed ; the land being so 
largely in the immediate care of the laborer himself, he 
can manage to get food for himself and family. And as 
they clothe themselves in the rudest and most primitive 
way, literally using skins of beasts, and in their natural 
state, they ought to be able to live comfortably without 
handhng much money. 

The " Riding School " of Moscow is the building in 
which a remarkable museum is gathered. This building 
is one of the longest with an unbroken area in the world, 
the roof, without a column to support it, covering a space 
560 feet long and 160 wide. It is constructed on this enor- 
mous scale for the exercise of regiments, cavalry and foot, 
in winter, when the weather is so severe as to render drills 
out of doors impossible. The Ethnological Society of the 
North of Europe had selected this place — and it was my 
good fortune to be here at the time — for the exhibition of 
the Slavonic races in wax ! Here they are in all their 
varied employments, according to the climate, habits, and 
necessities of the several peoples ; with their actual sur- 
roundings of forest, ice, snow, sea, river ; the men, women, 



358 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

and children, with dogs, poultry, oxen, reindeer, and sledges, 
hunting and fishing, freezing and trying to keep warm, 
marrying and trading and travelling ; here are Albanian 
costumes, and there- a cavern and human skeletons sitting 
in it, telling a story I could not understand, and here a 
cottage out of whose roof the smoke curls gracefully, 
and the open door and chickens and children playing near, 
need no interpreter to speak of comfort and content. 

If one were writing a volume of the manners and customs 
of the Slavonic races, he would learn more of them by the 
study of this museum than in months of travel among the 
people. The society is composed of learned and thought- 
ful men of Russia, Poland, Hungary, Bohemia, &c., who 
meet annually for the collection and diffusion of useful 
knowledge on the subject of their own race specially and 
the family of man. We are very apt to think that, outside 
of our own English-speaking countries, there is little doing 
to promote the civilization and thus the happiness of the 
human race. Travel takes this and many other conceits 
out of a man. One of the first things he learns, if he is 
capable of learning any thing, is that he knows very little 
of what is going on in the world. Then he finds that 
people whom he thought slow and only half civilized are far 
ahead of him in many things, and by degrees he comes to 
the conclusion that there is much in the world to be learned 
that he had never dreamed of. But if he sticks to it that 
what he does not know is not worth knowing, Hke my fel- 
low countryman who insists that there is more art in 
Illinois than in all Europe, then you may be sure that he 
answers to the cane shown to Sydney Smith by one of this 
sort of travellers who said : 

" This stick, sir, has been all around the world, sir." 
" Is it possible," replied Mr. Smith, " why it's nothing but 
a stick for all that ! " 



FROM MOSCOW TO ST. PETERSBURG. 359 



CHAPTER XXX. 

FROM MOSCOW TO ST. PETERSBURG. 

A COUPLE of English commercial travellers arrived 
to-day and were very conversable at dinner. No 
class of men one meets abroad are more free to impart what 
they know, than these agents of trading houses in England, 
who infest all countries, and push their way into every 
company that is willing to hear their ceaseless flow of talk. 
At dinner one of them asked a Frenchman in what country 
of Europe Egypt was situated, and the Frenchman did not 
know ; they discussed the subject for some time, neither of 
them thinking it was not in Europe at all. But the two 
having failed to settle the geographical position of Egypt 
came back to matters nearer at hand, and the invasion of 
Russia by the French and the downfall of Napoleon, made 
the conversation lively. For when did or will a Frenchman 
and Briton agree upon the character, the genius, or the 
deserts of the Man of Destiny. And this led to the men- 
tion of the Sparrow Hills, and to an excursion thither, 
from which we have just returned. 

On our way out of the city, we passed the church of the 
Saviour, the largest church in Moscow, with the most 
splendid dome, which, being covered with gilding, looks like 
a mighty sun rising. The church has been in process of 
building more than fifty years, and is far from being finished 
yet. It is intended as a memorial of the French invasion 
and its awful fate; and it was begun in the year 1812, so 
memorable for that critical event in the history of Russia, 



30O ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

of France, and of mankind. And it was on the Sparrow 
Hills that Napoleon first saw Moscow. 

An hour's ride from the hotel brought us to the Simonoff 
Monastery, which has been here through all the storms of 
weather and war these last five hundred years. Rich in 
lands with thousands of serfs, and the treasury into which 
emperors and princes poured their royal gifts, it has been 
sacked again and again by invading hordes, but has lived on, 
with six churches within its walls. A lake near by is 
reached by an underground passage, and miracles of heal- 
ing are said to be wrought upon the sick who come here 
with faith, and stay until they get well. In the midst of 
the enclosure rises a tower more than three hundred feet, 
and a blind bell-ringer delights in leading you to the look- 
out loft, and answering every question you can ask re- 
specting every object m your sight. You may be sure that 
he is right in his answers, though he is blind as a bat. 

The Novo-Devichi Convent, with six churches and a ro- 
mantic history, the Donskoi Monastery, and the Novo- 
spaski Monastery, are scattered through this region, and are 
all visible and accessible in the visit to the hill country 
around Moscow. But the roads are wretched and the 
weather hot ; the sun is getting low in the west, and we 
are in haste to enjoy the glories that are to burst upon our 
sight when we come to stand where Napoleon stood at the 
head of his proud legions and first saw Moscow ! 

At the foot of the hill flows the river Moskva, and row- 
boats are plying back and forth to carry the many passen- 
gers, chiefly of the humbler classes of people, who are going 
to and from the hills, on this feast-day in the Church, and 
so a holiday for them all. Leaving the carriage, we were 
ferried across and then climbed the hills, where hundreds 
of the Muscovites were enjoying themselves on the green 
slopes, eating, drinking, and laughing gaily, playing tricks 
upon one another, and making themselves merry, as the 



FROM MOSCOW TO ST. PETERSBURG. 36 1 

same class of people do in every part of the world. And 
it is pleasant to think that other people have " a good time " 
as well as we, in what clime soever they chance to live, and 
however much they lack the things that we think indis- 
pensable to enjoyment. Some of them were playing cards 
on the ground, some were drinking qiias^ a strong spirit ; 
and some who had already taken too much for their man- 
ners, called out saucily to us to come and take a drink of 



Before us, as we turned on reaching the brow of the hill, 
stood the holy city of Russia, its ancient capital, the border 
city between the Eastern and the Western worlds ! The 
sun unclouded and intensely glowing is behind us, and 
shedding its golden radiance in floods upon the domes and 
pinnacles of three hundred and seventy churches, countless 
towers and roofs and walls, the Kremlin standing above 
the rest in its majesty, with its crown of cathedrals and 
palace, a constellation of splendor rarely equalled in the 
cities of the world. The river makes a circular sweep 
through the plain at our feet, and then flows through the 
city. 

It was June, 1812, when Napoleon, at the head of the 
French army, crossed the Niemen and pushed on to Wilna, 
from which the Russian army retired, drawing him on in 
pursuit, and, with masterly foresight, involving their enemy 
in more and more hopeless difficulties. Napoleon would 
have been glad to meet the Russians in signal battle, but 
the leader of the Russians .understood his ground too well 
to risk an engagement. The Emperor Alexander, however, 
had not the sagacity to perceive nor the patience to bear 
the policy of his general, and, displacing him, put another 
man in his place, who gave battle at Borodino on the first 
day of September, when 80,000 men were killed or wounded, 
and the Russians retired to Moscow. The French were 
sadly crippled by the losses in this battle, and their provi- 



362 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

sions were now nearly exhausted. They were hastening on 
to the capture of Moscow to save their own lives. On the 
1 2th of September the Russian army silently marched out 
of the city, carrying with them every thing that could be 
removed. Of three hundred thousand inhabitants, only the 
convicts and a few others remained to take the chances of 
war. 

On the very next day. the advance of the French army 
reached the brow of the hill where we were standing a few 
hours ago ; and Napoleon, excited by the sight of the sunny 
domes and roofs of the golden city, cried out, " All this is 
yours." The soldiers caught up the cry, " Moscow ! Mos- 
cow!" and it ran like fire along the ranks till the whole 
army shouted in concert, " Moscow ! Moscow ! " An hour 
or two more and they made their triumphal entry into a city 
whose gates were open without a defender, and to the dismay 
of the conqueror the city was a desert without food or in- 
habitants. Through the deserted streets and up to the sacred 
gate of the Kremlin the conqueror took his silent and sullen 
way, and ascended the steps of the palace which was left 
ready for his reception. He had reached the end of his 
awful march of two thousand miles, but one was before 
him more terrible by far. His army was starving, and 
the city was empty. On the morning following his occu- 
pation, a fire broke out and defied all efforts to arrest it. 
Perhaps the wretched remnant of inhabitants were the in- 
cendiaries. This is not a settled question. But the sol- 
diers sought to save the city, and could not. The hospitals, 
in which 20,000 wounded had been left, were consumed. 
The glorious churches were now shining in flames. The 
palaces and houses of the rich were given up to the sol- 
diery, and the sacredness of temples and altars was no 
protection against the lawless rabble that rioted in the ruin 
and plunder of the town. The liberated convicts and rag- 
ged poor ravaged the homes of princes and the vestries of 



FROM MOSCOW TO ST. PETERSBURG. 363 

priests, and now roamed the streets in furs and robes. 
What the fire spared the battle-axe destroyed. Works of art 
and elegance and luxury, the vast accumulations of wealth 
and ages, all went down in the vortex of remorseless war. 

And now Napoleon sought to make peace with the enemy 
whose chief city he had in his possession. But his enemy 
was his master, and refused to hear of peace. After a 
month of delay, and the dreadful winter of the North at 
hand, he set off with his shattered hosts to return. And the 
story of that return is frozen into the memory of man. Its 
horrors the pencil has sought to portray, and no pen can do 
it justice. The frost and snow made havoc with the miser- 
able soldiers : they froze by thousands and died on the march. 
Wild disorder reigned, and death was the only commander 
whom officer or man obeyed. Napoleon, always true to 
himself, deserted his faithful army and fled to Paris. Of 
the half a million of men who composed his troops when he 
began the invasion of Russia, about 200,000 were made 
prisoners, 125,000 were slain in battles, and 130,000 perished 
by cold, hunger, and fatigue ! A disaster without a parallel 
in the annals of the race. 

And this was the beginning of the end. The powers of 
Europe combined against' him, and the world knows the 
story. 

Moscow is a city of so much historical interest, and it is 
so peculiar in its architecture, plan, and people, that we 
have lingered longer than perhaps has been agreeable to 
you. But the time was when Moscow was far more of a 
city than it is now. Two hundred and thirty years ago 
(it is written in history), Moscow had two thousand 
churches ; but the statements of the former population of 
this city are so astounding as to be scarcely credible. In 
1600 the plague made such ravages here that 127,000 per- 
sons were dead in the streets at one time, and 500,000 died 
in the city. All of these stories, including the number of 



364 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

the churches, must be greatly exaggerated, and yet they 
are some index to the former extent and power of this splen- 
did capital. But all this greatness must have been when 
the people were only a little removed from barbarism. Dr. 
Collins, physician to the Czar, says in 1670, "the custom 
of tying up wives by the hair of the head and flogging them, 
begins to be left off.'' It was certainly time, though it was 
two hundred years ago. No traces of that ancient custom 
remain. The doves that inhabit the streets, are held to be 
sacred birds, emblems of the Holy Spirit, and more of the 
spirit of love, than would be indicated by such rough treat- 
ment of wives, may be counted upon as prevailing within 
the houses where these peaceful birds are cherished. In 
no country that I have been in, is there more kissing done 
in public. At the railroad stations and in the market 
places, when a party of friends meet, they rush into each 
other's embrace, and all kiss ; the men the men, the women 
the women, and the men and women kiss each other. 
These are the peasants. I could not say that it is common 
among the more cultivated people. 

Our host, M. Billot, sent us to the station with extra style ; 
his wife was going into the country to see her children at 
school, and in her private carriage we were to ride to the 
depot with her, as a special mark of attention. During our 
stay in Moscow the family had done every thing in their 
power to make the visit agreeable, and it was crowned with 
this last act of attention, an escort to the station when we 
took our leave. 

There is but one train in twenty-four hours from Moscow 
to St. Petersburg, and as it is to be a ride of twenty hours, 
it is important to have some accommodations for sleeping. 
Our experience in going to Moscow had been so unhappy 
that we sought to improve upon the matter on the return 
trip. We learned that the first-class cars were arranged in 
compartments for six persons, and that the seats at night 



FROM MOSCOW TO ST. PETERSBURG. 365 

were to be converted into berths, so that each passenger 
buying a ticket was also the holder of a berth for sleep- 
ing in. The compartments were elegantly fitted up, and 
we (two of us) found ourselves upon setting off, on one 
side, and two Russian ladies on the other. They spoke 
the French language, and being as innocent of English, as 
we of Russ, the conversation that soon sprang up, was in 
the only tongue we could use in common. The apartment 
was hot to the verge of suffocation. We put up a window, 
which in a bright June day would be considered pleasant 
in any country, but the ladies gave instant signs of appre- 
hensions that they would take cold. Soon one of them 
shut the window with a decision that forbade appeal. We 
ventured to set the door open to admit the air from the 
open window across the passage, but this was too much 
for the sensitive women, and we had to close it. I found 
the same dread of cold in hot weather to be common to 
all the natives. • An omnibus, the body of which was made 
of sheet iron, which I was riding in on a blazing summer- 
day, was heated literally like an oven. I was obliged to 
leave it, but the people evidently enjoyed the baking. They 
have it so cold in cold weather, that the brief hot season 
seems to be refreshing, and the hotter the better they like 
it. At four p. M. we stopped at KUn for dinner — thirty 
minutes — all seated at table, and dinner was decently 
served : soup, boiled chicken and rice, quails, vegetables, 
jelly : price one rouble (sixty-four cents), wines and fruit 
extra. The natives at table were well mannered, with just 
such exceptions as you meet with in all countries ; one 
man left in disgust because there was too much confusion, 
and another refused to pay for his dinner until after he had 
eaten it. But the order, the dinner, the price of it, and the 
time to enjoy the meal, were all more agreeable to travel- 
lers than they would have been on most of the routes in 
our own beloved and well-regulated country. 



366 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

At Tver, on the Volga, we halted for a few moments 
only. A little girl, four or five years old, barefoot and 
poorly clad, came before the car window begging. She 
bowed to us as if before a picture of the Virgin, crossed 
herself, touched her forehead, bent her head low, the hair 
falling over her face, and then, raising her head quickly, 
threw the hair back, and so amused the people. We threw 
her money, which she caught in her lap, crossed herself, 
blessed us, and asked for more. Three girls came up and 
joined her, going through the same motions, and got some 
coppers ; and now a big boy made his appearance and put 
in his claims which proved unsuccessful. Then he turned 
upon the little girl, knocked her about for a minute, robbed 
her of her alms and fled. Boys are boys all the world 
over. I wish the cars would wait long enough for me to 
catch the little rascal, and recover the money for the girl. 

This is a city of nearly 30,000 inhabitants ; its splendid 
domes and beautiful Greek temples, as seen in passing, 
speak of a city of unusual culture. 

Night came, according to the watch, but no darkness. 
Nine, ten, twelve, no signs of night, except that sunshine 
was gone. We wished to go to sleep. But here an unex- 
pected difficulty arose. The two ladies declared it to be 
impossible for them to sleep in the cars, and therefore they 
did not wish the seats disturbed. We proposed to the con- 
ductor to arrange ours into berths, and let the others re- 
main in statu quo ante bellunt. He said they must be 
worked together : all or none. In vain we argued the case 
with these implacable women ; and, when we found that our 
appeals to their pity and their sense of justice were alike 
without avail, we gave it up. Each of us four settled into 
a corner, and the two ladies soon gave certain infallible 
signs that they were sound asleep, and so they continued 
until long after the break of day. The truth was, and the 
conductor understood it, but we did not, there was an 



FROM MOSCOW TO ST. PETERSBURG. 36/ 

extra charge for making up the berths, and the ladies saved 
the money by sleeping perpendicularly. 

At midnight it was as light as noon often is with us. I 
could write at any hour, and these lines you are now read- 
ing are written at half-past two o'clock in the morning. 
At three, the east began to glare with the rising splendor 
of another day. The heavy clouds that skirt the horizon 
are robes of fire. Gorgeously the colors of the rainbow 
are painted one by one on these shifting scenes, — orange, 
red, purple, violet, I could count them all. How mean, 
tame, pale, all earthly pageants seem : the domes, the min- 
arets, the golden-jewelled orbs and crowns of Czars, com- 
pared with this wasted wealth of glory that the King of 
kings scatters from his full hand with the rising of each 
day's sun. I had never seen the sun rise in a latitude so 
far north. Its splendors charmed me out of all my hard 
feelings towards these sleeping Russian dames, who de- 
prived me of a night's repose and gave me such a magnifi- 
cent morning. 

Sitting up all night with a couple of Russian ladies 
might, or might not, suggest the idea of telling you some- 
thing of the marriage customs of this strange country. 
A French writer, whose name I forget, has said " the Rus- 
sians are a nation of polite savages," a remark that is not 
very apt, but it helps us toward a proper understanding of 
the social condition of the people. The rich are very rich ; 
the poor are very poor. The nobles are courtly, polite, and 
as refined in manners as those of the same social class in 
Germany; but the serfs, or those who belonged to the 
nobles with the soil, before the emancipation, are rude, and 
not half civilized. The two classes, or rather the extremes 
of the two classes, would justify the description of the 
Frenchman, who, like many writers of his country, would 
not be specially tied by the truth, if he wished to point an 
epigram. 



368 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

It was no uncommon thing in those days of serfdom for 
the proprietor to order this matter of marriage among his 
people, telHng the young men to get a wife when he thought 
it time, and providing them, if the young men were slow in 
making their choice. And in the peasant class the mar- 
riage was liable to all the caprices and irregularities to be 
expected in a state of things where the will of the master 
was scarcely restrained by law or custom, so that he had 
the social happiness of his people very much in his own 
hands. In such a country, and under such circumstances, 
it would not be strange if some social evil was suffered. 

Almost as soon as a girl is born, in the better ranks of 
society, her parents begin to prepare the dowry she must 
have when she goes to her husband. For this is indis- 
pensable in the eyes of any Russian young gentleman who 
proposes to be married. She must furnish every thing for 
an outfit in life, even to a dozen new shirts for her coming 
husband. 

I have just heard of a lady of rank and wealth who had 
prepared a costly dowry of silks, linen, jewels, plate, &c., 
for her beloved daughter, who died as she came to be twenty 
years old. The mother resolved to endow six girls with 
these riches, and actually advertised for them. A host of 
applicants came, and she selected six. None of them had 
lovers. But now they had a respectable dowry secured, 
each girl was speedily engaged, and with the husband took 
the dowry, and paid the rich lady by promising to pray for 
the repose of her daughter's soul. 

In no country is this arrangement of terms carried on 
with more caution and completeness than in Russia. The 
young man goes to the house of his proposed bride, and 
counts over the dresses, and examines the furniture, and 
sees to the whole with his own eyes, before he commits 
himself to the irrevocable bargain. In high life such things 
are conducted with more apparent delicacy, but the facts 



FROM MOSCOW TO ST. PETERSBURG. 369 

are ascertained with accuracy, the business being in the 
hands of a broker or a notary. The tj'ousseau is exposed 
in pubHc before the wedding day. And this pubHcity has 
long been as unblushing as the customs that are now 
becoming fashionable in New York. The publication in 
the newspapers of intended marriages ; of descriptions of 
bridal dresses and presents ; of the names and toilettes of 
guests at fashionable parties ; the value of jewels worn, 
&c., now common and approved in the highest circles of 
American society, is the same thing with the exposure to 
the public gaze of a bride's dowry in Russia. 

At Whitsunday there is a curious custom, which is grad- 
ually giving way with the advance of civilization. The 
young people of a neighborhood come together, and the 
girls stand in a row, like so many statues, draped indeed, 
and not only draped, but dressed in their best, and painted 
too ; for the young ladies, and the older ones also, of this 
country use cosmetics freely, and a box of lady's paint is a 
very common present for a young man to make to the girl 
he likes. Behind the row of girls are their mothers ; the 
young men having made known their choice, the terms are 
settled between the parents of the parties. 

The ladies in Russia are very anxious to marry, because 
they have no liberty before marriage. They are kept con- 
stantly under the maternal eye until they are given up to 
the husband, and then they take their own course, which 
is a round of gayety and dissipation, only regulated by their 
means of indulgence. The Greek Church, like the Roman, 
permits no divorce, but the Emperor, like the Pope, can 
grant special dispensations. 

The marriage ceremonies vary, as in all countries, accord- 
ing to the rank and wealth of the parties. A procession is 
sometimes met in the streets ; and the Emperor's carriage 
would, at any time, turn out and give the right of way to 
a bridal party. 

24 



370 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

It pleases me always, in a strange country, to find that 
social enjoyments are so equally distributed over the earth, 
varying in kind and degree, indeed, according to the religion 
and civilization of the people, but still all of them having 
their own ways and means of making themselves happy. 



FINLAND. 371 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

FINLAND. 

A T nine in the morning we were to be on board the 
^ ^ steamer Wyborg, Captain Nystrom, to go from St. 
Petersburg to Finland, and thence to Sweden. When we 
reached the wharf, so great was the crowd of passengers 
and the crush of luggage and the pressure of freight, that 
it seemed doubtful if we should be able to get on board. 
It was summer time, very hot, and the people who had not 
yet escaped from the city heat, and were able to, were rush- 
ing to their rural residences on the sea-coast. They are as 
much in the habit of this, as our rich people at home are 
of flying in midsummer to the hills or the sea-shore. 

Americans are abroad. Four or five families from the 
city of New York met on the deck of this steamer, all of 
whom were making this northern tour, and none of whom 
were known to each other as away from home. As the 
boat was to be our hotel for several days, this sudden acces- 
sion of neighbors was very agreeable, and made the pros- 
pect of the excursion more pleasant. And gradually this 
circle widened, till it embraced Russians and Finns and 
Swedes and English, with whom our own tongue was more 
easily a means of communication than it was in Italy or 
Spain. 

We are steaming out of one of the four mouths of the 
Neva, as it widens into the Gulf of Finland, and for several 
miles the intricate channel is staked out with care. Cron- 
STADT is the famous port of St. Petersburg, one of the 



372 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

strongest fortifications in the world, and we had expected 
to see a frowning precipice, a long and lofty range of rocks, 
defying attack, a Gibraltar in the north of Europe. There 
is no rock at all. The fortifications are low, and all the 
more impregnable for that ; but we were taken down by 
their appearance, the situation being so widely different 
from our anticipations. Napier came here with the British 
fleet, at the opening of the war that was afterwards called 
the Crimean, for the very good reason that when the Ad- 
miral hurled the whole power of the navy of England against 
Cronstadt in vain, the war was prosecuted to its close in the 
southern part of the Russian empire, the Crimea. 

The approach to Cronstadt is difficult, and the channel 
easily defended by the immense fortifications which succes- 
sive emperors have constructed, well knowing that this is 
the northern gate of the empire. The dry docks are on a 
gigantic scale, to meet the demands of a first-class naval 
power, which Russia is not, and will never be till she moves 
her seat of government and field of operations to the Bos- 
phorus. Forests of masts, denser forests of masts than we 
had seen since leaving New York, stood along the docks of 
Cronstadt. A steamer crowded with passengers, from stem 
to stern, passed us as we were lying here ; she was bound to 
Revel, and all the Russian coast of the Gulf of Finland. 
The people are apparently as given to travel as the Ameri- 
cans. 

By this time we had begun to get accustomed to the 
people around us. The Russian children had fur caps on 
and the ladies wore woollen cloaks, though the weather 
was so hot as to make the shade of an awning indispensa- 
ble. Smoking was strictly forbidden, but the captain and 
all who chose, smoked in the face of the signs that were 
posted up to prohibit the practice. The Gulf of Finland, 
on which we are now, is smooth as a summer lake ; the 
day is lovely, skies bright, the breeze delicious, the air 



FINLAND. 373 

bracing ; if we have associated chills and fogs and ice and 
bitter cold with Finland, we must come in winter to find 
them, for the Hudson River in summer was never more 
quiet, nor its banks more brilliant in the noontide, than 
this region to-day. The day has been one to be remem- 
bered, among pleasant memories of travel, and toward sun- 
set we run into the harbor of Wyborg. The ancient city 
stands on an arm of the gulf that sets up six or eight miles, 
the lumber station of Tronsund being at the mouth. Near 
this are saw-mills that cut up 160,000 logs in a year, and 
ships from all parts of Europe come here for lumber ; one 
vessel, rejoicing in the name of Pius IX., was lying at an- 
chor waiting her turn to get northern pine to carry home 
to Italy. The channel was obstructed in 1854 to prevent 
the British under Napier from getting up to Wyborg, and 
now the trouble is just as great for friends as foes, only 
that the Russians have put the poles into the water, each 
pole being made to hold a flag above the waves, to desig- 
nate the tortuous channel. Two large islands lie in front 
of the town, and make a safe, snug harbor. An arm of the 
sea stretches away between the lines of fortification and 
the old town, and in the midst of the water a mighty rock 
rises majestically, crowned with a tower of other times, 
partly in ruins now, for the storms of heaven and the storms 
of earth and sea have often beaten upon it in peace and 
war. Its roof is gone, but it is a prison still, and its hol- 
low sides have secrets never to be revealed till the final 
day. The sun is in the west, as we approach the city, and 
its domed churches blaze in its setting glory. The old 
castle, now in ruins, has a history of just six hundred years, 
a history of courage, endurance, and heroism, while it re- 
sisted the might of Russia, until in 17 10 it yielded to Peter 
the Great. Then followed, with an interval of a few years 
only, the submission of Finland to the yoke of Russia, 
which it still wears. 



374 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

Finland is a Protestant country, Lutheran being the 
established religion of the country. The Greek and Roman 
churches are regarded with equal dislike. All native Fin- 
landers are obliged to have their children baptized in the 
Lutheran Church. They must also be able to read before 
they can be married, or take any part in the government of 
the country. 

The public officers are appointed by the Russian govern- 
ment, but the Finns pay no tribute to Russia, except the 
support of the civil list for their own officers. The Grand 
Duke of Finland is the Emperor of Russia himself. Under 
him are four orders, the nobles, clergy, citizens, and peas- 
ants. Each of these orders is represented in the legislature 
of Finland, meeting annually to regulate the domestic affairs 
of the state, subject to the veto of the Emperor of Russia. 

For the last ten years every harvest has failed, being cut 
off by untimely frosts. Great famines have therefore pre- 
vailed, with diseases incident to want, and many have per- 
ished. Men on salaries have voluntarily paid fifteen per 
cent of their incomes to feed the poor, and they will do so 
for a few years more ; but if the same destitution should 
continue five years, the country will be depopulated. So 
severe has been the distress, that the inhabitants have 
eaten the bark of trees, and as little or no nourishment can 
be found in bark, they are rapidly dying out. The Russian 
government is preparing to transport all who are willing to 
go, to some portions of Russia where there is land in 
abundance, and a population is wanted. 

The Emperor is popular among the Finns, who have 
ceased to regard him as a conqueror, and now look up to 
him as a protector and friend. He is bound by an oath to 
preserve the integrity of their constitution, and they trust 
him. The Finns are not drafted into the Russian army. 
They enlist in it freely, under the temptation of bounty 
money. But they have a strong national feeling of their 



FINLAND. 375 

own, refusing to be called Russian, or to admit that they 
are part of that empire. 

Wages are very low. A skilled mechanic gets only 
about a rouble (eighty cents) a day, and a farm hand is 
glad to earn ten cents a day. But with this terrible state 
of things, poor pay and no food, emigration is not allowed, 
either by Finnish or Russian law, and there is no prospect 
before the peasantry but to perish on the ground. 

The country is more thoroughly sunken in the water 
than any other inhabited part of the globe. It seemed to 
me that the inhabitants might have been called Finlanders, 
because they ought to be amphibious. But the name comes 
from the ancient fen, or fennen, which is also an English 
word for bog or morass. The Laplanders were the original 
settlers on the southern shore of the Baltic, but they have 
retired to more northern regions still. The interior of the 
country is almost filled with lakes, irregularly shaped, and 
making travelling by land exceedingly tedious, as one must 
wind his way far around these arms and branches. There 
is one lake, Saima, two hundred miles wide, in which there 
are a thousand and more of islands. The largest is called 
Amasara, or mother-island ; on this island there are seventy- 
seven lakes, and in these lakes fifty islands. This great 
lake is connected with Lake Ladoga, in Russia, and, by a 
canal here at Wyborg, with the Gulf of Finland. Now it 
will pay you to take a map, and, with this description, see 
what a stretch of water communication extends through 
Finland into Russia. If you were to go by this canal to 
Lake Saima, and so to Lake Ladoga, you would not see 
much of the people, but you would find it easier and 
pleasanter getting through than to take the only other 
conveyance, that of the drosky. This is a low sulky, in 
which only one person can sit, though a driver, if you must 
have one, manages to get a seat by the horse's heels. The 
horses are small, nervous, and wiry, and have learned from 



3/6 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

colthood to go on the jump all the time, up hill and down 
hill, and on a level. Ladies who come travelling here must 
and do adapt themselves to this unsocial mode of travel, 
and ride all day alone, or with the company of a ragged 
boy, who speaks no word the traveller understands, and 
spends his time in walloping the beast, to quicken his 
rapid canter. Between the lonely post-houses it is rare to 
meet a human being, or to pass a habitation ; but the 
solemn pine-trees make the gloom more gloomy, and huge 
boulder stones rise, like towers of giant builders waiting 
for their masters to return. Some of them have been 
utilized by the progress of art and science. It was one 
of these great boulders that was cut into the splendid 
Alexander column we saw in St. Petersburg, the largest 
monolith in the world. The enginery required to move it 
from its place, where, perhaps, the deluge left it, and trans- 
port it to the heart of a distant city, fairly rivals the skill 
of the Egyptian pyramid builders, or the men who set 
Pompey's Pillar on its base. 

A crowd of five hundred people or more were on the 
dock at Wyborg waiting for the steamer, when we touched 
the shores of Finland. At least a hundred droskies and 
other conveyances, with little horses attached, swelled the 
concourse. Many of the persons were expecting to re- 
ceive their friends who were coming by the steamer, and 
as there are but two arrivals from St. Petersburg in a week, 
every steamer brings a goodly number. Many were well 
dressed, ''fashionable" ladies and gentlemen, who wel- 
comed their friends with cordial greetings, the kissing 
being quite as affectionate and common as in Russia. But 
more of the people on shore were the poor, the toilers, 
looking for a little something to do ; and the drivers of 
the droskies were as importunate and impudent as the 
donkey boys in Alexandria or the hackmen in New York, 
and none in the wide world are worse. 



FINLAND. 377 

A gentleman of Wyborg, with whom we had formed a 
speaking and very agreeable acquaintance on board, pro- 
posed an excursion through the town into the country, as 
the steamer was to lie at the wharf till after midnight. It 
was now only nine o'clock at night, and there was plenty 
of time before sunset to take a ride of a few miles into the 
interior ! A long line of droskies was therefore engaged, 
and in single file we set off, at a break-neck pace, but 
according to the custom of the horses and the country. 

The town of Wyborg has about six thousand inhabi- 
tants, — Swedes, Russians, Germans, and Finlanders. The 
churches are numerous, the Lutherans being more in num- 
ber than all the rest, which are chiefly Greek for the 
Russians. The town is ancient and uninviting in its 
appearance, with nothing to indicate enterprise or progress. 

Through it we were carried, all flying, by the tower or 
castle or prison of the year 1300, and out into the country 
where villas were here and there planted, and some little 
culture was displayed. Our destination was the summer resi- 
dence of Baron Nicolai, a wealthy Russian, who has made 
himself the possessor of a peninsula, and here has laid out 
a park and grounds with the novel and beautiful idea of 
making a miniature Finland, — a little representation, 
with the aid of nature and art, of the lakes and islands, the 
rocks and hills, of the very country of which this princely 
domain is an insignificant part. At the gate we were very 
properly required to pay an entrance fee, which goes to the 
relief of the poor of the neighborhood, and the visitor is 
not forbidden to enlarge his fee to any amount more agree- 
able to himself. The villa we soon pass has nothing im- 
posing in its aspect, but in the midst of a park of ancient 
shade trees has an air of quiet contentment that justifies 
the name its first owner gave it, " Mon Repos " — My Rest. 
Passing it we pursue the shaded walks, by the borders of 
little lakes and along running streams, till we come to a 



37^ ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

wooded islet, reached by a foot-bridge and crowned with a 
monumental tomb, and this is the family sepulchre. Fit- 
tingly did the master of all these grounds call the spot to 
which he had retired " My Rest ; " for he who spent such 
vast sums of money to convert these rocks and wilds into 
a garden of Eden now sleeps in the tomb, and his son 
reigns in his stead, rarely, however, coming here, and only 
for a few days in summer. 

Such had been our associations with Finland, that we 
were more than surprised to find so much culture and taste, 
elegance indeed, within an hour of landing on its coasts. 
And as we emerged from the woods in our walks we came 
suddenly upon the shore of the bay, and the glorious sun 
was sinking to his " repose " at ten o'clock ! It seemed very 
late for the sun to be going to bed ; he keeps earlier hours 
in our country, and it is odd to be out sight-seeing at this 
time of day ! 

Yet in the midst of this Finnish paradise there was a 
pest as bad as the serpent in Eden. We were nearly 
devoured by mosquitoes ! They beset us behind and before 
and bit us horribly. With handkerchiefs over our faces, 
and with bushes to drive them away, we were pursued as if 
they were starving like the other inhabitants, and they sent 
in their bills with no more mercy than landlords in Spain. 
I would not take the place, with all its splendor and natural 
attractions, for a gift, if it were encumbered with the con- 
dition of being obliged to live in it through the summer 
season. But some people get used to these little plagues. 
Nature is fond of setting off one thing against another, 
and it may be that the inhabitants of mosquito regions 
have some compensating advantages that make these evils 
a luxury rather than otherwise. They do prevail in the 
cold climates of the north, as well as in malarious south- 
erly regions, and there is good reason to beheve that they 
are not very troublesome to the settled inhabitants, however 



FINLAND. 379 

savage they are upon strangers. For I have observed in 
the United States, and within a very few miles of New 
York, if a man purchases a home, a " Mon Repos " Hke 
this we are now visiting, and says to himself, ** this is my 
rest," he is able to say, in answer to the inquiries of friends 
as to mosquitoes, " We are not troubled with them at all." 
And if the fever and ague has been there through all 
generations, he is free to declare, " There is nothing of it 
around us." From which we infer that mosquitoes and 
other plagues like them, and the chills, respect the mano- 
rial rights of the owners of the soil, and only draw the 
blood and shake the bones of strangers, who in all ages and 
countries have been considered as lawful prey. 

We stood on the shore and saw the sun go down in 
clouds of glory, and then returned, in the same style in 
which we came, to our ship. A great amount of freight 
was to be left and more taken in, and this kept the vessel 
in such confusion that sleep was quite out of the question. 
At two o'clock I was sitting at my cabin window writing 
without a candle, and a carriage came to the wharf with a 
gentleman and lady to come on board. No one would have 
thought of its being night to see the arrival. It was diffi- 
cult to adjust one's mind to the fact that we had come' into 
such a latitude, that night could be told from day only by 
looking at your watch. 

The ride to " Mon Repos " brought our steamer passen- 
gers into pleasant relations. We had come to feel less like 
strangers, and more like acquaintances, not to say friends. 
I came on deck early this morning, and had a cup of coffee 
at the same little table with a lady whose grace and beauty 
had rendered her somewhat a point of attraction yesterday. 
Two little children were playing at her feet, and a nurse for 
each was in waiting. I soon learned from her, as we fell 
into conversation naturally, that she spoke all the languages 
of northern Europe, as Russ, German, Swedish, Finnish, 



38o ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

and the French besides, but not a word of English, and 
this she regretted all the more, she said, since so many 
Americans are now travelling through her country. Her 
native tongue was Finnish, and her education would have 
been finished had she known mine. 

Rarely in any country is a lady to be found with a wider 
culture and more accomplished manners than this Finland 
wife and mother has. She reads the English language, but 
has never attempted to speak it ; and the standard authors 
of our country and of England were her study and delight, 
as the best French and Italian writers are familiar to 
educated persons among us. 

The company by degrees came on deck, and all national- 
ities were soon merged into one family. Two or three 
from the capital are talking in English to an English party 
on their way to the interior of Finland, going a-fishing. 
Norway is farmed out to English gentlemen, so that it is 
hard to find a good stream for salmon and trout that is not 
the private property of some one in England, who keeps it 
for his own enjoyment. Finland is now persecuted by these 
piscatorial parties. One of the English gentlemen was loud 
in his praises of the fish of Finland, and his own wonder- 
ful skill in " killin' of them." The streams are very swift, 
and the true sportsman uses only the fly hook. This gent 
said, "I kill them loyally, with fly only; sometimes, when 
they will not rise to it, I take a bait, but in that case I 
throw them back into the water, even if they weigh twenty 
or thirty pounds. It's the pleasure of killin' of them that I 
enjoy; it's not for the fish, it's the killin' of them." The 
"parties" expect to enjoy two or three months in Finland 
fishing and shooting. It was an entertainment to note the 
pleasurable anticipations of these pleasant people, on their 
way to enjoy what to me and many must be about as great 
a bore and punishment as could be endured in the name of 
sport. 



FINLAND. 381 

The Gulf of- Finland, as we are running along the coast, 
is full of islands, to the very edge of which our vessel often 
comes, — romantic, rocky, hilly islands, to the right of us 
and left of us, without the sight of an inhabitant. The 
weather is glorious, cool, \)Y3.cmg, breezy, a cloudless sky 
and a brilhant sun covering the smooth water and these 
green isles with a blaze of beauty as we plough our way 
northward. How widely does all this differ from what we 
had expected when meditating a cruise along the coast of 
Finland ! 

We come to Fredericksham by a tortuous channel, among 
islands and rocks strongly fortified ; but, verily, it seems 
scarcely worth while to make special provision to prevent 
people from coming up into these regions. The domes and 
spires of the city tell us that God is worshipped there ; and, 
as the morning sun tips the temples with fire, we send up 
our matin prayers with the people of the town, whose God 
is also ours. 

We passed the ruined fortress of Sclava, of some impor- 
tance once, but now only a monument of the times when 
Russia and Sweden were fighting for the poor bone of Fin- 
land, from which all the meat, if it ever had any, was picked 
before the war was over. 

The war is nominally over, and Russia is the master 
now ; but the people keep up the old spirit of patriotic love 
for the mother land and tongue. The Russ is the language 
taught in the schools. If a scholar speaks in his own 
language the teacher flogs him, according to law ; and if 
the scholar speaks in the Russian language, the other boys 
flog him when the school is out. So that flogging would 
seem to be the fate of speaking at all. 

We chatted freely with the ladies respecting the social 
customs of Finland. There is much less freedom of social 
intercourse among unmarried young men and women, in 
poHte circles, than in England, or even France. Parties of 



382 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

young men by themselves are common, and of young ladies 
by themselves ; balls for dancing bring them together, and 
their parents come with them, but one young lady said 
archly, " They are not always near enough to hear what we 
say." These fashions are common to Russia and Finland, 
and other countries in the north. I had seen it written, in 
an English book of travels, that at dinner parties the ladies 
sit by themselves, apart from the gentlemen, but have met 
with nothing of the kind, and am assured it is a mistake. 
Yet it is true that the ladies generally enter the dining-room 
by themselves, in advance of the gentlemen, and then sit 
promiscuously. There is more freedom of manner and less 
stiffness and formality than in the same social rank in 
England or Germany. 

It is not probable that the practice of bringing up chil- 
dren in this exclusion from social intercourse tends to 
improve their morals or manners. On the contrary, it 
makes matters worse. In well-ordered households, where 
the virtues are inculcated in the first lessons that youthful 
minds receive, and where parental example, more powerful 
than lessons or discipline, is such as children may safely 
follow, it v/ill be found that as boys and girls are apt to be 
mixed up in the family, so they should be in social life. 



FINLAND. 



383 




Helsingfors. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 



FINLAND {Continued). 



\ T the close of a delightful day's sail along the coast of 
■^ -^ Finland, we reached the harbor of Helsingfors. The 
distant sight of the city is imposing, and one's admiration 
is doubtless heightened by the surprise he feels when first 
finding such splendid structures in this part of the world. 

The Fortress of Sweaborg, commanding the approach to 
the city, is rather a series of fortifications than a single fort. 
The works of nature have been turned to as good an ac- 
count at this point as in the Straits of Gibraltar. Seven 
islands were placed by the Great Maker in just the right 
position for the purpose of being fortified to protect the 
city, and they have been so strongly fortified as to defy the 
force of any foe. The combined fleets of France and 
England tried their guns upon it in 1855, and retired from 
the trial, quite content to get away. 



384 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

Peace is reigning now. The fortress fell into the hands 
of the Russians in 1808, after the garrison was reduced to the 
last extremity by famine, and it was the last stronghold 
that Sweden held in Finland. When this was gone, all 
was gone, and the Finns changed masters. But their sub- 
jection is rather nominal than real, as we shall see when 
we enter the town. On the shore where we land is the 
" Society House," or, as we should call it, " The Company's 
Hotel;" and we find similar houses in many parts of 
northern Europe. They are hotels built by the company 
running the steamers, or by associations, and they com- 
bine many of the features of the first-class hotels at 
watering-places in England or America. Near it is the 
palace in which the Emperor of Russia, who is also the 
Grand Duke of Finland, resides when he makes his brief 
visit, now and then, to this remote and " outlandish " part 
of his empire. His accommodations here are very narrow, 
but just as comfortable as those in the Winter Palace of St. 
Petersburg, holding five thousand people. 

On the ship we had formed the acquaintance of a gentle- 
man of Helsingfors, whose pleasant manners and intelligent 
conversation had greatly interested us during the voyage. 
As we had now reached his home, and were going ashore, 
he gave us a warm invitation to his house, which, of course, 
we declined, and then he insisted upon being our guide to 
see the famous old town. It is one of the richest in his- 
torical interest in the north. 

On a grand square stand the chief public buildings, and 
they present an appearance that would be commanding in 
Paris or London. The senate-house stretches across one 
side of the square, the Lutheran church adorns another, 
the university fills a third, and from the fourth a broad 
avenue opens, half a mile long, to the foot of a hill crowned 
with an observatory. 

The University of Finland ! In our ignorance, we had 



FINLAND. 385 

associated Finlanders with the Laps and the Esquimaux, and 
had never thought of letters and science and art in connec- 
tion with this race. Among the pleasures of a visit to Finland 
we had not reckoned an introduction to a venerable univer- 
sity, endowed, sustained, and flourishing on a par with those 
of Germany. In fact, very few of the German universities 
have accommodations and advantages equal to this at Hel- 
singfors. It would be considered first-class in England or 
France, and there is nothing comparable to it in the United 
States. It has a magnificent stone edifice of architectural 
proportions and finish, that make the building a perpetual 
lecture on the beautiful and sublime in art ; and within is 
the most complete system of rooms for every department 
of knowledge here pursued, — for museums, laboratories, 
lectures, recitations. The professors were in session in 
the great audience-room as we entered it ; the place was 
adorned with a full-length portrait of the Emperor Alexan- 
der I., who is styled, in the Latin inscription, " the father 
of his country and the university." The prophecy is 
added that art will preserve his features, and his fame 
will fill the whole earth. The professors seemed an ear- 
nest set of men, mostly young, all fine-looking and well 
dressed. I took them to be happy and successful in their 
calling, and I wished much that I understood their lan- 
guage, so as to enter into the sympathies of a set of 
scholars giving their lives to the pursuits of science in 
Finland. 

The university has five separate departments, law, medi- 
cine, theology, &c., with tJiirty-one professors, and it is 
older than any university in Russia. It was founded in 
1630 by the Empress Christina, eleven years before the art 
of printing was introduced into Finland. Its charter was 
signed by Axel Oxenstiern, a famous name in his country's 
annals. The library contains 200,000 volumes, in all lan- 
guages and in every realm of human learning. It is admi- 



386 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

rably arranged in a series of beautiful rooms, in niches 
and galleries, having an air of repose and seclusion inviting 
to quiet study, such as Ptolemy anticipated when he put 
over the Alexandrian doors the fitting inscription, *' The 
food of the soul." 

And the halls, floors, walls, and the whole interior, are 
kept with a scrupulous neatness unknown in any institution 
of learning claiming the dignity of a college, or university, 
that my feet ever entered, in the most enlightened, civilized, 
and beloved land in the world. Yet there is little in the 
way of literature in the Finnish language, which is spoken 
only by the peasants, the Swedish being the language of 
law and social life among the other classes. Some rich 
treasures of popular poetry have been discovered floating 
about in the memories of the people, and these have been 
gathered as curious specimens of an unlettered, but im- 
aginative race. Kalewala, an epic poem, was first printed 
in 1835, and an earnest effort has been made to rouse 
young Finland to seek laurels in the fields of song. Two 
of the professors deliver lectures in Finnish. Schiller and 
Shakespeare have been done into the native tongue of the 
Finns. And the imperial decree has gone forth that after 
1883 the Finnish language shall be the official tongue of 
the country. If Russia would be as kind and considerate 
of the feelings of Poland, she would conciliate her southern 
subjects as readily as she has her northern. 

We were now led to the Senate-house. The Diet, or 
Congress of Finland, consists of four chambers, the nobles, 
the clergy, the citizens, the peasants. Each of them has a 
hall of its own for meeting ; that of the nobles has a large 
chamber, with two hundred or more handsome chairs. On 
the walls is placed the coat-of-arms of each noble family in 
Finland, with the name inscribed upon it, an ostentatious 
display indeed, but very interesting. We came upon one 
familiar name ; it was that of our friend who was our 



FINLAND. 387 

guide. His brother is the head of the family, and, in his 
absence, the next in order, our friend, takes his seat in the 
senate. 

We rode out of town a mile to the beautiful Botanical 
Garden, one of the resorts of the ladies and gentlemen of 
the city. Here they come toward evening, and enjoy 
themselves in social intercourse, and take a cup of tea in 
the grounds. The park is laid out tastefully, — beautiful 
shaded avenues, green meadows, banks of flowers, and the 
walks lead up to rocky heights overlooking the bay and 
sea ; and these heights have been fortified to resist the 
coming foe. The guns, which were brought up here in the 
Crimean war time, are now lying about useless ; but they 
are doing as much service when dismounted and rusting on 
the ground as they did in the fight, for they were not big 
enough to reach the ships of the enemy, whose bombs went 
easily over these heights into the town. 

Below, and in front of a beautiful " House of Refresh- 
ments," tables are scattered about in great numbers, and at 
one of these our company sat, to enjoy the hospitality of 
Herr Edelfelt, our new-made friend, who insisted upon 
entertaining us at tea in the Finland fashion out of doors, 
as we had declined his invitation to his own house. This 
custom of taking dinner, tea, or supper at a garden or 
restaurant is prevalent among respectable people in many 
parts of continental Europe, and, by the accession of 
Europeans into the United States, is gradually becoming 
an accepted custom there. 

Near to this garden is a health establishment of great 
repute. All the medicinal springs of Europe and America, 
and of Asia and Africa too, I presume, are reproduced by 
skilful doctoring, and whosoever drinks may be cured of 
whatsoever disease he has, provided the disease is curable 
by any of the waters of the world. To this many-mouthed 
fountain of life thousands resort in the morning and drink 



388 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

the waters. As they are required by the rules of health to 
take a brisk walk up the heights and down again, before 
and after taking the refreshing draught, there can be no 
manner of doubt that strangers resorting hither must derive 
great benefit. The air is salubrious, the scenery magnificent, 
the climate bracing, the regimen judicious, and the morning 
exercises quite as edifying for invalids as those prescribed 
by Dr. Jay, of Bath. It is quite probable that this artificial 
fountain in Finland has cured as many patients as Baden 
or Kissingen, and yet it has not been celebrated half so 
widely. Besides drinking, bathing is plentifully enjoyed ; 
and his case must be hard that is not softened somewhat 
by the internal and external application of pure cold water, 
with plenty of exercise in the open air, on the heights of 
Helsingfors, in Finland. I drank none of the water, inhaled 
the air, took the constitutional walk, and was perfectly well 
when I came away. As I stayed there only about an hour, 
the inference is fair that if I had used the waters and re- 
mained a week or two, I should have been competent to 
give the cure a first-rate certificate. 

We are now at the sixtieth degree of north latitude, 
eighteen degrees further north than New York city, or 
more than a thousand miles nearer the North Pole. We 
have returned to the ship, and night is nominally about us, 
but no darkness settles on the world. We can read and. 
write all night without a candle, if we are so disposed. And 
there is no sleep to be had, for all the livelong night the 
natives are pouring on board with freight ; passengers are 
coming ; they fill up the cabin and spend the parting hours 
with friends, eating, drinking, laughing, and talking obstrep- 
erously ; and the leaving-taking, with the inevitable indis- 
criminate kissing, keeps the place in a constant uproar, that 
knows no alleviation until at four in the morning we put to 
sea, and find rest in the cradle of the deep. 

We are now going further north, by narrow passages 



FINLAND. 389 

among islands simply masses of rocks, utterly barren, 
washed by the waves till they are perfectly smooth ; and 
not a tree, nor shrub, nor blade of grass is in sight upon 
them. The channel is very tortuous, marked by poles, and 
sometimes it is so near the rocks that we seem to be graz- 
ing their precipitous sides. The weather is cool, clear, and 
delightful ; though midsummer, the overcoat or shawl is 
agreeable ; and the exhilaration of the day and the passage 
among the islands became general among the passengers, 
who throng the hurricane-deck to enjoy the scenery. Some 
of the islands that we pass in the course of the day have some 
available land and a few inhabitants, whose chief pursuit 
is fishing. And these scattered islands, and the adjoining 
shores on the mainland, furnish sailors that enter the ser- 
vice of other countries, and are among the most hardy, 
healthful, and valuable seamen to be found. The subjects 
of the Russian government, either here or in any other 
part of the empire, are not allowed to expatriate themselves 
at their own pleasure, as thousands would gladly do, if they 
could make their way into some more hospitable portion of 
the globe. But they can often find opportunities to get on 
board merchant vessels as seamen, and they are not slow to 
avail themselves of such opportunities. The soil does not 
give them food. They have no market for the fish that the 
sea would furnish. They are therefore very poor, and in 
bad seasons famine overtakes them. The people that have 
money, the well-to-do people, — and there are. many such in 
Finland, — have plenty of dried salmon, and fresh too, beef 
and potatoes, which, with bread and butter, make good 
enough living for anybody ; and to these staples they add 
some of the luxuries that money will command anywhere. 
But the poor are very poor, and they constitute the masses 
of the people, — the great multitude whose condition we go 
to look into when we visit foreign lands. 

Abo is pronounced Obo. It is the name of the northern- 



390 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

most town of any note in Finland, and a famous old town 
it is. We were told that the hotel is the farthest north of 
any hotel in the world. Away up above us on the borders 
of the Gulf of Bothnia, — and Abo is at the dividing line 
between the Baltic and Bothnia, — is Bjonneborg, and Chris- 
tireestad, and Wasa, and Uleaborg, and Tornea on the very 
head of the gulf, where there is something in the way of a 
house of refreshment for travellers, I have not a doubt.. 
Perhaps this is the last that aspires to the distinction of a 
hotel on the European plan, and we will enjoy the comfort- 
able satisfaction of thinking that, as we are going no farther 
north, there is no place of rest and entertainment to re- 
ceive us if we should. 

A large crowd of people was standing at the wharf to 
see the steamer, to greet friends expected, and to hear the 
news. They were quiet, orderly, and well-looking. There 
was no rush to the gangway, no pulling and hauling to get 
on, or get baggage and passengers, though there were hun- 
dreds waiting for any kind of a job by which a little money 
could be made. The hotel — the Society House, as it is 
called — is close by the landing, and affords all the sub- 
stantial comforts a traveller requires. 

The old castle, historic, romantic, and famous, is in full 
view ; a massive stone tower on which the storms of cen- 
turies, in war and peace, have spent their fury. The streets 
of the town are wide and the houses low, and one looks in 
vain for the appearances of a city that was founded by Eric 
the Saint, who reigned from 1157 to 11 60, the time when 
the Sun of Christianity first softened the rigor of this 
northern clime. The castle was founded then, and for long 
centuries held in check the Russians who sought the con- 
quest of Finland. 

The cathedral has been an object of intense interest for 
ages past, as the first monument of Christianity in this 
region, and the burial-place of the most illustrious per- 



FINLAND. 391 

sons in the history of the country. One of the tombs 
bears the name of Catharine Monsdotter, who was taken 
from humble hfe and married to the King of Sweden, and 
by one of those strange reverses, now ceasing to be strange, 
she returned to Finland and died in obscurity, and her hus- 
band perished in prison. Her remains repose among queens 
and princes, but she finds no compensation in this for the 
loss of a diadem. Two white marble statues, life-size, stand 
on a sarcophagus in one of the chapels, over the dust of a 
man and wife who were celebrated for their wealth and 
noble birth, having the blood of kings ; and the statue of 
the wife is even now decked (not adorned) w^ith necklace 
and bracelets, —gaudy jewelry indeed to garnish a whited 
sepulchre. 

In 1827 an awful conflagration swept over this city of 
only 20,000 inhabitants, and consumed two-thirds of all the 
houses in it ; the inside of the cathedral was destroyed, the 
university and its great library, and the chief public edifices 
fell a prey to the flames, and the town will never recover 
from the disaster. Its university was removed to Helsing- 
fors, where we have already visited it. Its trade is now of 
no account. The interior of the country furnishes little or 
nothing for export, and the glory of Abo — for it once had 
some glory — is departed for ever. 

The Gulf of Bothnia extends six degrees to the north of 
Abo, but there is no trade or travel that requires a steamer, 
and ours is now to strike across the gulf, through the Aland 
Isles to Stockholm. We are bound there to visit Sweden 
and Norway. Those who have not this trip in view, and 
wish to see more of the country, can remain at Abo and go 
back to Wyborg and St. Petersburg by land. There is 
semi-occasionally a coach for travellers in Finland, but the 
more excellent way is by private carriage, or carriole^ the 
carriage of the country ; a narrow low sulky, with room 
enough for one, hardly for two, besides the driver. It has 



392 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

no top ; but there is another trap called a kibitka, a long, 
narrow wagon with no springs, and a leathern hood which 
you can draw over you in case of rain, and with a bed in 
the bottom of it, on which, if not too long, you can stretch 
yourself out, while the driver attends to the little animal 
ahead, that tears up and down hill, through the sand, at a 
fearful pace, regardless of an occasional break-down and 
turn-over. This is a Russian innovation, and in the Paris 
Exhibition there were several very handsome specimens of 
the vehicle, which is far more pleasant to read about than 
to ride in. The bojidkara is still another wretched contriv- 
ance, about the same thing as our buck-board ; with this 
essential, not to say fatal difference, that ours has four 
wheels, and the board extending from the forward to the 
hind axle makes an agreeable spring ; an experienced driver 
sitting before, and the passenger behind him, holding on 
with both hands, can ride astride and not suffer much. 
The bondkara of Finland has but two wheels, and the bench, 
without a back, is fastened to the axle-tree, the driver before, 
the traveller behind ; the equilibrium must be preserved 
with care or the load goes to the ground, and when the 
wild horse tears down hill as if running away, the passen- 
ger must hold on tight with both hands on the sides of the 
seat, and the other — but he has no other, unless he's a 
little behindhand, in which case he would do well to use it 
as best he can. The average speed of ten miles an hour 
is made, and that is pretty well in such a country as this. 

It is very strange that the intercourse of nations does 
not lead to the more rapid adoption of improvements which 
have been found to be useful. Nations are slow to learn 
of one another. We in America have railroad arrange- 
ments that Europeans know, but will not introduce. They 
have many things in their system that we ought to apply, 
but will not. People of different countries have an idea 
that what they do not know is not worth knowing, and so 



FINLAND. 393 

they prefer a poor way of their own to a better way of 
others. But we have nothing to learn from Finland in the 
line of travel. Patient endurance is something, and the 
people of Finland deserve credit for the spirit with which 
they have borne themselves through the long period of 
their dreary history. They are not numerous, the entire 
population amounting to but 1,800,000 souls : 40,000 are 
members of the Russian or Greek Church ; the rest are 
Protestants, mostly Lutherans. It embraces only 6,844 
geographical miles of surface, and no other country is so 
much covered with water. Yet it has a splendid university, 
with thirty-one professors ; it abounds in churches, it has a 
peaceful, moral, and intelligent population, and some of the 
gentlemen and ladies whom it was my pleasant fortune to 
meet were among the most agreeable and cultivated per- 
sons I have encountered abroad. ^ 



394 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 

SWEDEN. 



'T'^HE day was bright as we left the harbor of Abo, and 
-*- struck out into the sea among the Aland Isles. The 
wind was strong, but not enough to disturb the weaker 
brethren who are easy victims of the sea. Breakfast was 
served at ten and a half o'clock, and already the Swedish 
customs at meals began to show themselves. Before sitting 
down to the table, or immediately on taking a seat, as you 
prefer, little glasses of gin schnapps are passed around, and 
each one is expected to take a nip as an appetizer. The 
same at dinner. Ditto at supper. Also after meab a punch, 
not like the American drink of that name, but something 
that looks thick, oily, amber-colored, and inducing a smack- 
ing of the lips, which, without uttering a word, say, " It ees 
goot." Breakfast, after schnapps, comprised radishes sent 
around as the first course, with Bologna sausages, tongue 
and dried beef, salt fish, bread and butter, beefsteak and 
potatoes, ham and eggs, with coffee if you insisted on having 
it. There is evidently no need of starving when you get all 
that for breakfast, and about four hours afterwards sit down 
to dinner and take soup (if you caii), with fish following, 
and beef, poultry, game, salad, cucumbers, puddings, fruit, 
nuts, &c., and wine at your order. Eating is one of the 
principal institutions in these northern climates. There is 
but one other institution more highly valued, and that is 
drinking. They keep at one or the other or both pretty 
steadily. Besides the four regular meals, lunch and supper, 



SWEDEN. 395 

in addition to those I have named, they are fond of inter- 
mediate refreshments, and a drink never comes amiss. The 
amount of strong Hquor they can carry without apparent 
inconvenience is something" wonderful. And it is more re- 
markable as we get along into the north toward the Pole. 
They say it is the bracing climate which induces such an 
expenditure of vital force, that the supply must be replen- 
ished with nourishing food and stimulating drink. 

We were crossing the Baltic. It was warm off the coast 
of Finland. It was cold in the middle of the sea, so cold at 
noon that we had to wrap up with shawls and blankets, and 
theji be uncomfortable on deck, and were finally driven 
below. But when at four o'clock we ran in among the 
islands off the Swedish coast, we found it warm again. So 
there are belts about the globe itself. 

We approach Stockholm through a thousand isles and 
more, so near each other that we seem to be winding our 
way along a narrow river. Now and then a tower, solitary 
and sublime, starts up from some grand cliff. An ancient 
castle stands among the rocky headlands. Suddenly the 
city rises, like Venus or Venice, from the bosom of the sea, 
beautiful in the sunlight that gilds her palaces and domes. 
The entrance to Stockholm is magnificent. I have not been 
more impressed by the approach to any other city but 
Constantinople. 

As our steamer touched the wharf the captain's wife and 
children and a few friends came on board to welcome him 
home. He had been absent nearly two weeks ! Had crossed 
the Baltic and sailed or steamed along down the coast from 
Abo to Petersburg and back again, and his friends were 
here to receive him as if he had been around the world ! 
And it was good to see the greeting. His young and 
beautiful wife the captain was proud 'to present to his new- 
made friends on the ship, while two charming children 
clung to his legs as if they would not let him go again. 



39^ 



ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 



Porters from the hotels were ready to take the luggage, 
and the passengers, ladies and gentlemen, went ashore and 
walked up the streets at their leisure. There was a quiet- 
ness about this quite refreshing. No bustle, no pulling and 
hauUng, no loud talking and swearing ; the landing in 




Stockholm Steamers. 

Sweden was a pleasant contrast to that of more highly cul- 
tured countries, our own for instance. 

Hotel Rydbttrg received us, — large enough to entertain 
two or three hundred guests, — and a curiously arranged 
house it was, the geography of which I have not learned, 
after its careful study of several days. I know that to get 
to my room I have to go up two flights of stairs, then out 
upon a balcony, then down one flight of stairs, then ring 



SWEDEN. 397 

a door-bell and get admission into a room that is not mine, 
then across this apartment into my own, which is a spa- 
cious and handsomely furnished room, — sofa, lounge, 
ottomans, piano, secretary, bookcase containing a set of 
Voltaire's works in seventy French volumes, pictures, 
engravings, stuffed birds, and other specimens in natural 
history, all suggesting the idea that the mysterious passages 
through which I have been conducted have led me out of 
the hotel proper into some private house attached, and that 
some Swedenborgian philosopher has rented his premises 
to the hotel. He certainly has things comfortable if such 
be the fact, and I will use them as not abusing them while 
I stay. 

Scandinavia includes the peninsula of which Sweden is 
but a part, Norway and Denmark making up the rest of it ; 
and its history, is it not all written by Pliny and Tacitus in 
pagan antiquity times t and a thousand years after they 
wrote of it, did not Saxo Grammaticus the Dane, and 
Snorrow Sturleson, of Sunny Iceland, bring down the 
story to their times } Not far from the same time when 
the Saxons invaded England, the Gothic tribes under Odin 
migrated to Sweden, and founded an empire on the bor- 
ders of Lake Malar, with Sigtuna for its capital. Odin 
was a god, in his own esteem and that of his followers, and 
he combined in his sublime and mysterious person all the 
offices of priest and king and teacher ; he was the law-giver 
and judge. With lofty aspirations for power, he conquered 
by his will, his arms, and his address, and finally he be- 
came the object of religious worship through the north of 
Europe. The Sagas, or sacred books of the ancient Swedes, 
give us the fullest insight into the views of the Scandi- 
navians in religion, as to the creation of the world, the 
government of the universe, and the destiny of man. It 
was in the ninth century that Christianity was openly 
preached in Sweden fpr the first time, and the dynasty of 



39^ ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

pagan kings did not terminate till the beginning of the 
eleventh century, when Eric V., in looi, being converted, 
destroyed the great temple at Upsala, where, to this day, 
are the graves of Thor and Woden and Freytag, on which 
this Eric, the first Christian king, was slain by his pagan 
people in their fury, excited by the destruction of their 
temple. 

The history of Sweden since Christianity became its re- 
ligion has been glorious among the nations, although she 
has been a small and inconsiderable power. Under Gus- 
tavus Wasa, in 1529, the Roman Catholic religion was 
abolished and the Lutheran estabhshed, and just one 
hundred years afterwards, Gtfstavus Adolphus, the grand- 
son of Wasa, was called upon by the Protestant powers of 
Europe to put himself at their head to resist the Roman 
Catholic movement to obtain universal dominion in Chris- 
tendom. He was triumphant in his masterly generalship, 
and fell covered with glory at the battle of Lutzen. His 
name is now inscribed with that of Washington, among 
the noblest characters the human race has ever produced. 

At the present time the King of Sweden must be a 
Lutheran, the government is a hereditary constitutional 
monarchy, restricted in its descent to the male line. The 
congress is composed of four separate houses, — nobles, 
clergy, burgesses, and peasants ; and the unanimous con- 
sent of these four houses, and the approbation of the king, 
are required to make any alteration in the constitution, 
which is therefore not likely to be very suddenly amended. 
In other measures a majority in three houses may pass a 
bill, but if two houses vote aye, and two vote no, then a 
committee of eighteen, from each house, takes the subject 
in hand, and their decision, approved by the king, is final. 
This arrangement works well for conservatism, but is not 
favorable to progress. It is easy to retard legislation, and 
difficult to press things through. 



SWEDEN. 399 

Having a letter to Dr. Stolberg, of Stockholm, I was 
directed to call at the Caroline Institute to learn his ad- 
dress. A walk of a mile into the outskirts of the city- 
took me to what proved to be a hospital, with ample 
grounds and excellent arrangements. A woman answered 
my ring at the door, and led me to the study of one of 
the professors, and left me there to await his coming. It 
was so simple in its furniture, and yet so well fitted up for 
business, I could plainly see it was for work, not rest, that 
he had that den made. And when he came, a thin, bent, 
pale student, cap on his head and pipe in his mouth, and 
working - wrapper on, I felt at once that he lived in his 
books and his thoughts. He would have me go to his 
chemical laboratory, and when he found me interested in 
the experiments he was making, he became enthusiastic in 
his descriptions, and would have cheerfully given up the 
day to the " pursuit of science " with a stranger from a 
distant land. Yet I had but one question to ask him, and 
he was able to give me the address of the man I was 
seeking. 

Here was a hospital, or rather an asylum for invalids, 
into which, on easy conditions, a poor body could get ad- 
mission, and be kindly cared for at the expense of the 
state. Many of these institutions are scattered over the 
world, the fruit of Christianity, and when I find them in 
places where I least expect, they tell me that love works 
the same results everywhere. I soon found Dr. Stolberg, 
in a modest dwelling, in a garden retired from the street, 
and he received me with great courtesy and warmth. 

In Sweden a physician makes no charge whatever for 
medical attendance ; and, what is more remarkable still, 
very many of the people who can afford to pay for the 
services of a doctor are willing to avail themselves of such 
aid without paying any thing for it. One physician told 
me that of ninety-six cases that he had treated within a 



400 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

certain time, onl}^ six paid him at all ! It is customary for 
those who do pay to pay by the year, and fifty rix dollars, 
or about twelve American dollars, would be a large sum for 
persons in good circumstances to give for the benefit of a 
physician's counsel for a whole year. There is, therefore, 
no great inducement, in the way of profit, to go into the 
medical profession. Nor is it an introduction to society, 
the physician not being in this respect materially above 
the apothecary in social standing. 

The clergy, as a profession, are not materially better off 
than the physicians. Their pay comes from the state, but 
their salaries are very small, and, vv^ith only here and there 
an exception, they have very little influence, social or po- 
litical. They are not men of learning, and perhaps they 
are as influential as the}^ could be expected to be. The 
established religion is Lutheran, with one archbishopric, 
eleven bishoprics, with 3,500 clergymen. They are said to 
be " highly educated," but I was assured that there is a great 
lack of education' among the clergy, and the very small 
salaries which even the dignitaries receive would confirm 
the statement that the church does not retain the aid of 
learned and able men. 

The press is free, and when a man is called to account 
for the abuse of this freedom, the case goes to a jury, 
whose action is final, and there is no appeal from it. 

Only one in a thousand of the population is ignorant of 
letters ; they can read, and nearly all can write. 

A common laborer gets about twenty-seven cents of our 
money for a day's work, and a mechanic at his trade earns 
a little more. The cost of living must be very little, where 
the working classes can support themselves and families on 
incomes so small as these 1 

Yet they do live comfortably, and if it were not for 
drinking intoxicating Uquors, they would be well off. 

They are, as a people, as little given to other vices as in 



SWEDEN. 401 

any country of Europe, perhaps I might say, in the world. 
The statistical tables show that many, very many, children 
are born into the world whose parents are not lawfully 
married, and it is therefore set down to the discredit of 
Sweden and Norway that they are very lax in their social 
morals. There is this, however, to be said on this delicate 
subject, the law forbids the marriage of any parties who 
have not taken the Lord's Supper, and many do not wish 
to become communicants in the church, who are also quite 
willing to be married. But the church will not sanction 
their union, and they live together in the marital relation, 
true to each other, but without the blessing of the church. 
Their children are returned in the census to the discredit of 
the morals of Sweden ! Here is an interesting point for 
moralists to study. The practice is wrong, and so is the 
law that has made the practice so common. 

The mysterious words, Riddarholm kyrkan, provided 
always your education has not extended into the language 
of Sweden, are used to define a kyrkan or kirk, the Riders' 
or Horsemen's or Knights' Church in Stockholm, decidedly 
the most peculiar and interesting of all I have seen in the 
north of Europe. 

Divine service is celebrated within its walls but once a 
year. It is not a house for the living to pray in, but for the 
dead to he in. It is not for the dead of common clay, but 
for the dust of kings only, — a royal mausoleum. It is a 
structure of nameless architecture, once Gothic doubtless, 
but worked over until, small trace of its original design 
appears. A spire once almost reached the clouds, and when 
the lightnings played too fiercely on it, it was replaced by 
one of cast iron, which tapers finely to a lofty height, and 
defies the thunders. 

It is a symbol, the whole church is, of a rude age and 
land. The doors were opened at noon of a bright summer 
day, and yet as we entered, a sense of gloom, of ruin, of 

26 



402 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

vast antiquity, and the utter emptiness of this poor life of 
ours, came over me Hke a thick cloud. Every stone of 
uneven, broken pavement was a tomb, and the inscriptions 
long since were worn away by the feet of strangers. In 
dumb silence, for centuries the royal remains of successive 
dynasties have been resting here, and their names are for- 
gotten, rubbed out, and unwritten elsewhere. The flags, 
spears, drums, swords, guns, and implements of war unused 
in modern times, are hung around the walls, as if this were 
an arsenal and not a sepulchre. In front of the high altar, 
with recumbent effigies of ancient kings, and in the midst 
of inscriptions hard to read and some still harder to under- 
stand, was one epitaph in these words : — 

JusTiTiiE Splendor 
Patriae Pater 
Vivas in Eternum 
O Magne Beate. 

On either side of the door, and on elevated pedestals, are 
equestrian statues, cased, both horse and rider, in solid 
armor; and that of Charles IX. is said to have been made 
by Benvenuto Cellini. The armor is more interesting from 
its association with the name of its maker than the king 
who wore it. Such is fame. 

On the right of the high altar, and within the choir, is 
the tomb which every Protestant who comes to the north 
visits as a shrine, — not to pray for the repose of a soul,, but 
to testify his reverence for the name of Gustavus Adolphus. 
The trophies of his victories adorn his sarcophagus of green 
porphyry, which was made in Italy to receive his remains. 
His own " garments rolled in blood," in which he fell while 
fighting on the field of Lutzen, November i6, 1632, are 
preserved remarkably in their stains, for more than two 
centuries ! His epitaph is short and fitting : '' Moriens 
triumphavit," — 

"Dying he triumphed." 



SWEDEN. 403 

The cause of truth, religious liberty, and the rights of 
man, all denied and crushed by the Papal power, — the 
cause which woke the soul of Luther and inspired the 
Reformation for these three centuries, — has been strug- 
gling on toward the universal empire of the human soul. 
That was the cause in which Gustavus Adolphus died 
covered with wounds and glory, and his epitaph says that 
he triumphed when he died. I think he did. True, the 
battle goes on still, and many a hard field is to be fought 
over yet, before He whose right it is shall reign unques- 
tioned in His dominion over the souls of the race. But the 
grand foe of the Church of Christ was then the civil power 
of the Papacy. Rome had the armies of all papal kings at 
her command, and they moved at her ghostly will, propa- 
gating her religion, like that of the Moslem, by the sword. 
It was to roll back this tide, more terrible than the waves 
of the Crusades, that Gustavus Adolphus was called to lead 
the armies of the Protestant powers, and the result was 
complete success. There is not now one crowned head 
on earth that acknowledges the supremacy of the popes. 
Austria has cast off its allegiance, and it was Austria that 
led the South of Europe against Gustavus Adolphus. Italy 
is independent of Rome. And Spain, the birthplace of the 
Inquisition, and the most abject to the Pope, has cast 
out the principle of intolerance, and proclaimed the rights 
of worship. What Luther did for the truth in the 
pulpit, Gustavus Adolphus did for the same cause in the 
field. 

We went down the stone stairway, worn deeply by the 
tread of generations, into the lower regions, where lie whole 
rows of dead kings turned to dust, coffins tucked away on 
shelves and in niches, reminding me of the Bible words : 
" All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, 
every one in his own house." What's the glory, though, 
of such a resting-place, it is hard to say. Their dust is no 



404 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

better than that of other men. Their names, even among 
kings, have ceased to be distinguished from other names. 
No man could go among these walks of tombs, these' 
shelved kings, and pick out one or another, and say who is 
who. And if he could, I do not see that it would be any 
particular satisfaction to the quiet gentleman on the shelf. 
If the visitor should say, " Is this the man that made the 
earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms ? " no answer 
would come back from the tomb. 

We did not set foot within the gates of his majesty, the 
King of Sweden, and this neglect was much to the disgust 
of some of our Swedish friends, who consider the royal 
residence a marvel of architectural grandeur and beauty. 
We could not see it, even when they pointed to its magni- 
ficence with the same exalted opinion of its splendor that 
possessed the Jews in sight of their temple. The Lion's 
Staircase, rising from the water's edge and leading to the 
main entrance, adorned with two bronze, and therefore 
quiet, lions, presents a grand front to the palace, and 
within the same interminable suites of apartments, and the 
same gaudy furniture, and the same sort of pictures and 
statuary, with nothing that has a title to any distinction 
above what is common in all palaces. 

The picture-gallery has some five hundred paintings, 
some by Van Dyck, Paul Veronese, Domenichino, and 
others equally well known to fame, and the sculpture 
gallery boasts a sleeping Endymion, and a few other gems ; 
but we are out of the enchanted zone, and must not 
expect to be charmed with the brush or the chisel in 
Sweden. We shall find Thorvaldsen when we come to 
Denmark. 

But the royal library has 75,000 volumes, and if it had 
the library that Queen Christina sent to the Vatican at 
Rome, it would be still a greater wonder, and then would 
be increased if the ancient collection made by Charles X., 



SWEDEN. 405 

and consumed by fire in 1697, had been preserved. The 
Codex AtirenSy a Latin' manuscript of the gospels, dating in 
the sixth or seventh century, " is written in Gothic char- 
acters of gold, on folio leaves of vellum, alternately white 
and violet." 

'^ This book is additionally interesting, from its contain- 
ing an Anglo-Saxon inscription, of which the following is a 
translation : ' In the name Of our Lord Jesus Christ, I, 
Alfred Aldorman (Senior or Prince), and Werburg, my 
wife, got up this book from a heathen war-troop, with our 
pure treasure, which was then of pure gold. And this we 
got for the love of God, and for our souls' behoof, and for 
that we would not that this holy book should longer abide 
in heathenesse ; and now will we give it to Christ's Church, 
God to praise, and glory, and worship, in thankful remem- 
brance of his passion, and for the use of the holy brother- 
hood, who in Christ's Church do daily speak God's praise, 
and that they may every month read for Alfred, and for 
Werburg, and for Alhdryd (their daughter), their souls to 
eternal health, as long as they have declared before God 
that baptism (holy rites) shall continue in this place. Even 
so I, Alfred, Dux, and Werburg, pray and beseech, in the 
name of God Almighty, and of his saints, that no man shall 
be so daring as to sell or part with this holy book from 
Christ's Church, so long as baptism there may stand. 
(Signed) Alfred, Werburg, Alhdryd.' No trace appears to 
exist of the history of this volume from the time it was 
thus given to Canterbury Cathedral until it was purchased 
in Italy, and added to this library. Here also is a huge 
manuscript copy of the Bible, written upon prepared asses' 
skin. It was found in a convent at Prague, when that city 
was taken by the Swedes during the Thirty Years* War. A 
copy of Koberger's Bible, printed at Leyden, 1 521, and the 
margins of which are filled with annotations by Martin 



4P6 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

Luther. Besides these, the library is rich in manuscripts 
and rare editions." 

The King of Sweden is the most affable and approacha- 
ble monarch in Europe. In his daily walks, or while going 
about in the public steamers that ply through the waters 
of the city, as omnibuses do in New York, he enters freely 
into conversation with the people. To strangers, especially 
Americans, he is exceedingly kind, or, as his subjects would 
say, gracious. I saw him frequently while he was riding, 
but came no nearer to his Majesty. He had one of the 
most splendid reviews that I had ever seen, when the 
whole of the Swedish army that is stationed in this part 
of the country, together with the militia, all liable to be 
called on to do military duty, are put through a drill for a 
few days and nights every year, in the summer season. A 
vast open country, hill, wood and plain, is chosen, tents 
pitched, and for a few days mimic war goes through all its 
motions, saving and except that there is no blood shed. 
This annual exercise does something to keep up a mar- 
tial spirit, and makes a few grand holidays, when the whole 
city is agog with the excitement. A fete day in Rome, an 
emperor's day in Paris, or Derby day in London, would not 
exceed the annual review in Stockholm. The nobility and 
fashion, the beauty and folly, the masses of people in all 
sorts of conveyances, and more on foot than on wheels, 
were out at the parade. The squadrons were set on the 
hills, so far apart that a telescope was needed to see what 
was going on, and the marching and countermarching 
made a pretty show that delighted the people, and gave 
the soldiers a taste of the amusements they would have 
when rushing into battle under a blazing sun, and blazing 
guns in front of them. 

The wars of Sweden occupy a large place in European 
history. Yet when vv^e see how small the population, how 



SWEDEN. 407 

limited the resources, and remote the situation of the 
country, it seems incredible that human wisdom has been 
so fooUsh as to permit a race of kings to waste the hves 
and wealth of a nation of honest men, in the miserable 
game of war. 

But the genius of Sweden is seen in a very clever 
arrangement to make the burden of soldiering as light 
as possible. The standing army proper is very small 
and has little to do at present. But the reserve is 
large, and consists of men who are distributed about the 
kingdom and quartered on the government lands, which 
they work in time of peace, and thus earn their own sup- 
port. If the crown lands are leased to others, a certain 
number of these soldiers is set apart for, or quartered on 
the land ; and the lessee has their labor, and is responsible 
for their support. In this ingenious way the government 
makes its land pay the expenses of its army in peace. 
We might take a leaf out of the royal book of Sweden, 
and, by a wise administration of our vast national landed 
property, make it contribute something to the support of 
the government, while we improved its value. That would 
be certainly more statesmanlike than to give it away by 
millions every year to speculators. The Swedish soldiers 
are also employed in making roads, and on other public 
works, as ours might be, greatly to their own moral benefit, 
and to the advantage of the country. 

It strikes me that there is more order and less crime in 
this northern part of Europe than in any other country I 
have yet visited. I see little evidence of abject poverty 
and low vice. By night or day I have not seen a person 
on the streets at Stockholm who seemed to be of the 
abandoned class. Longer acquaintance may correct this 
impression and reveal another, state of facts. Two Amer- 
ican travellers were robbed of their watches and money, 



408 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

at the hotel where T am lodged, but a few days ago. It is 
not at all likely the thief is a native of these regions. 
He has probably followed the travellers, or, what is quite as 
likely, been one of their travelling companions. The land- 
lord paid the losses without a lawsuit, and the Americans 
went on their way. 



SWEDEN. 409 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

SWEDEN (Continued). 

T3 Y the beautiful island of Drottningholm, on which the 
^^ king's mother resides in a palace within a park, that 
seems the abode of peace and plenty, and along the shores 
of other islands small and picturesque, but lovely to look 
on as we pass them on our way, we sail out into Lake 
Malar. 

It is a wide, winding, beautiful sheet of water, — one of 
the many noble lakes that Sweden holds in her bosom. 
Two islands in it come so nearly together, that a draw- 
bridge for a railroad stretches across, and opens for us to 
pass through, and then we sweep out into another expanse 
of water, the shores skirted with pines and hemlock ; no 
hills in sight, but the scenery is lovely, though lacking 
grandeur. We are going into the heart of Sweden. Now 
the shores are cultivated to the water's edge, and fine farms 
rise to view, with here and there a red cottage, with a tile 
roof : all the peasant houses and fisherman cottages are 
painted with red ochre, cheap, but unpleasant to the eye. 
Now the shores are bolder, rocky, and great forest trees, 
fir and spruce, are abundant. 

The oldest place in Sweden, and that carries us back into 
far antiquity, is Sigtuna, and we have come to it, on the 
shores of Lake Malar, about four hours from Stockholm. 
We are in the midst of the remains of the old pagan wor- 
ship of Scandinavia, where the altars to heathen deities, 
whose graves (!) we are going to see to-day, have smoked 
with human sacrifices. 



4IO ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN, 

Odin or Woden (whence comes our Wedensday or Wed- 
nesday), a hero of the north, — in time to which history, at 
least rehable history, runneth not back, — here estabhshed 
the seat of his power, and it took its name from his original 
title, which was Sigge, and Tuna, which is our word town. 
Here Sigge, or Odin, reared stone temples, of which the 
ruins are before us. Here his power became so great, and 
such the reverence of rude peoples for power, that the 
temples and altars which he reared to gods whom he wor- 
shipped, became, in the eyes and hearts of the people, 
dedicate to him, whom they came to revere and worship 
as a god. From" this spot the worship of Odin, and after- 
wards of his son Thor (whence our Thursday), spread 
through the whole of the North of Europe, and, in spite of 
the subsequent triumph of Roman Christianity, and then 
of the Lutheran Reformation, the Odin superstition — a 
secret, unconfessed, but controUing reverence for those 
heroic human deities, the hero worship of the human soul — 
still obtains among the more ignorant classes of the people 
over all this northern country. The legends that have come 
down from sire to son, keep alive in successive generations 
the hidden fear of these false gods, and form the largest 
part of the unwritten poetry and romance of all Scan- 
dinavia. 

Pirates from Finland came here and laid waste the forti- 
fied town of Odin, and it has again and again been built and 
destroyed ; but here is the remnant of an ancient temple or 
church, and three towers, which have the highest interest 
of antiquity (whatever that is) hanging, like mantling ivy, 
all about them. No one but an antiquary would wish to 
spend more than a moment in Sigtuna, among its 400 
inhabitants. Tyre and Sidon on the sea coast are not so 
desolate as this spot, which seems accursed for its pagan 
crimes and impostures in days long since gone by. 

Sweet pictures of rural life in Sweden were seen this 



SWEDEN. 411 

morning as we sailed through this Lake Malar. Opposite Sig- 
tuna, and a little farther on, we touched the shore, and landed 
Professor Olivecrona, of the University of Upsala, with his 
wife and a party of English friends. He had been to 
Stockholm to meet them, and bring them up the lake to 
his country residence in summer. It was a beautiful man- 
sion, very near to the water's edge, in the midst of woods 
and delightful walks. The children and servants came 
down to the landing just in front of the house, to a private 
wharf, and as the parents went ashore, and four lovely 
children in their light summer dresses welcomed them, and 
greeted the friends coming with them, it was a scene of 
domestic beauty and happiness that quite touched an old 
man's heart some three or four thousand miles from home. 

More islands, among which our boat makes its tortuous 
course, coming so near to the rocks that we might easily 
scrape them ; now and then a bare white rock holds its 
peak solitary above the water, and a bird of prey perches 
on its top, looking into the deep for his dinner. Now the 
shores are clothed with green forests, and again we emerge 
among meadows, and in the bright sun the contrasts of 
light and shadow, as we pass by the pines and fir trees, are 
constantly pleasing. An air of infinite quietude pervades 
the region, and it is painful to believe that it was once a 
" habitation of cruelty." 

Suddenly a grand old chateau, the ancient residence of 
the Brahe family, one of the oldest and most illustrious in 
Sweden, opened on our view. It was built in 1630, and 
each one of its four towers is surmounted by an orrery, in 
honor of the famous astronomer whose name alone has 
made the family famous. A boat comes off from the shore, 
and takes passengers who wish to visit the house. Its 
library and museum and galleries of art make it a popular 
resort. On its walls are portraits of Tycho, and the Ebba 
Brahe, whom Gustavus Adolphus loved, and would have 



412 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

married but for more ambitious schemes of her mother 
that never came to pass. 

During this delightful passage of six hours through Lake 
Malar, in one of the loveliest days of summer, we have not 
seen a sail nor a steamer, except the return boat of the 
line that has brought us. And this fact is sufficient to 
show the utter stagnation of commercial life in the interior 
of Sweden. 

I confess to surprise on coming to Upsala and finding the 
ancient university here in high prosperity, with all the ap- 
pliances of education that first-class institutions require. 
Linnaeus, the great botanist, was professor here, and his 
statue is one of the ornaments of the university. The 
Hospital, — a new and extensive building, — a royal palace 
on a hill, the Agricultural College, the Library, &c., with a 
Botanical Garden and ample parks, suggest to the traveller 
that in Sweden one might find a home to his mind, if his 
lot had been cast in this part of the earth. 

You have a fondness for old books and manuscripts. 
Here they are in abundance ; not of the sort, perhaps, that 
most antiquarians would run after, but, nevertheless, very 
precious and costly. 

Bishop Ulfilas, toward the close of the fourth century, 
translated the four gospels into the Gothic language, and 
his translation was copied in letters of silver upon vellum 
of a pale purple color, in characters very like the Runic. 
This manuscript is the very oldest extant in the Teutonic 
tongue, and was probably made by the Ostro-Gothic scribes 
in Italy. It was once owned by an abbey in Westphalia. 
Then it was treasured up in Cologne ; then by the fortunes 
of war it passed to Konigsberg, and to Amsterdam, with 
Vossius, on whose death the Swedish chancellor bought it 
and presented it to the University of Upsala. It is known 
among biblical scholars as the Codex Ai^genteiLs, or Silver 
Copy, from the style of the lettering. 



SWEDEN. 



413 



If you have a taste for Icelandic literature, so refreshing 
in the heats of summer, here you can find the oldest and 







Upsala. 



coldest of the Eddas ; and alongside of them is a Bible with 
the marginal notes of Luther and Melancthon. Students 
in and out of the university have free access to these treas- 
ures, and the reading-room is a pleasant resort for those 



414 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

who love to refresh themselves in the midst of a hundred 
thousand books, in all tongues and every realm of human 
thought. 

About fifty professors and fifteen hundred students com- 
pose the faculty and attendance of this famous university. 
It was founded in 1477, and has but one rival in Sweden, 
that at Ludd, founded in 1666. The expense of a student's 
education, including board, fees, &c., is about three hundred 
dollars a year. 

No one can be admitted to practise in any of three pro- 
fessions, — law, medicine, or divinity, — without taking his 
degrees at one of the two universities. This ensttres a high 
order of acquirements in professional men, and when we 
state one fact in addition, that one male person in every 
6ZZ in Sweden enjoys an education at the universities, it 
will be seen that these institutions reach the whole people, 
and extend their advantages into the midst of the masses. 
Sweden, and in this respect she is not singular in Europe, 
has not made the mistake which we in the United States 
have been making, of multiplying little colleges, and little 
theological seminaries, one-horse institutions, with the idea 
that, by bringing a school to the door of every man, or of 
every church, we should be enlarging the area of educa- 
tion, and multiplying the number of educated men. Thus 
we have reduced the standard of fitness for professorships. 
Thus we have diminished the number of students. Lower- 
ing the mark to which scholars should aspire, we have 
cheapened education, suppressed literary ambition, made 
the professions less attractive, and filled them with an infe- 
rior order of men, compared with what they would have 
been had the standard of great universities, with their high 
qualifications of professorships and degrees, been main- 
tained. If all the money which has been expended in the 
maintenance of feeble and famishing colleges and divinity 
schools had been applied to the education of youth in two. 



SWEDEN. 415 

three, or four universities, they would have been far better 
taught, and the surplus of money over and above the ex- 
penses of their education would endow a new university 
as often as the extension of territory and the increase of 
population render it necessary. 

A student of the university is required to wear a cap of 
pecuhar make, to distinguish him, not in the university 
town only, but wherever he may travel in Sweden. The 
cap is white, with a black border, and a rosette of the 
national colors in front. This requisition is useful in keep- 
ing the student upon his good behavior, and also as a peri- 
patetic advertisement of the educational institutions of the 
country. It is only by slow degrees that our people come 
into the -habit of putting classes into uniform. It is but 
recently that the police were so clad : now we have letter- 
carriers, railway officials, &c. The clergy formerly were 
generally known by a white neckcloth, but that has ceased 
to be their distinction. 

The old cathedral had the appearance of neglect ; it was 
out one side from the busy haunts of men, and this was in 
its favor, but it seemed to be neglected. Twenty-four 
whitewashed columns support the roof. In side chapels are 
the tombs and the remains of the old kings of Sweden. 
And when I had spelled out some of the Latin inscriptions, 
and had linked the names of these sleepers with the old- 
time stories of the land, the venerable cathedral began to 
take upon itself the form of a great monument of the dead 
past. And well it might, for the first stones were laid for 
its foundation in the year 1289, and it was consecrated in 
1435. Its dimensions rise into the sublime, for it is 370 
feet long, 141 feet wide, and 115 feet high. 

The columns within are capped with carvings of grotesque 
beasts, strangely out of taste in the house of God. Lin- 
naeus lies buried here, and a splendid mural tablet and bronze 
medallion portrait of him adorn the wall. Here lie Gustavus 



41 6 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

Wasa and two of his wives, and a long series of fresco 
paintings in seven compartments celebrate the great events 
in the life of this illustrious man. Here, too, is a tomb of 
John III., remarkable for this, — that it was made in Italy, 
was lost at sea on its way here, was fished up sixty years 
afterwards, and brought to this spot. 

The sacristan was very kind in revealing to our not very 
reverent eyes the precious things here kept for special exhi- 
bition to those who would pay for the privilege. With this 
understanding we were permitted to behold crowns and 
sceptres, a gold cup two feet high, a dagger that had been 
stuck into a king, and a statue of the old god-king Thor ! 
This last is not worshipped here, but is cherished as a 
memorial of the times when paganism was prevalent, and 
as a trophy of the triumph of Christianity over the powers 
of darkness. 

About three miles north of Upsala, the seat of the great 
university, is Old Upsala, more sacred than any other spot 
in Sweden : for here are the lofty mounds which tradition 
has consecrated as graves of the gods, — the gods who 
aforetime were held in reverent awe and honor 'by the 
Scandinavian race, and who, to this day, hold some sort 
of sway over the rude masses of the North. 

We rode out in carriages from the university, and 
passed in sight of the house which covers the Mora Stone, 
on which the kings of Sweden were chosen and crowned. 
It is made of about twelve different stones joined and in- 
scribed with the names of the monarchs who have been 
elected by the voice of the people. In 1780 the house was 
built over it by Gustavus III., but that was seven centuries 
after the first inscription upon it ; for here it is written 
that Sten Kil was chosen in 1060, and seven others, down 
to Christian I., in 1457. Gustavus Wasa met his subjects 
here in mass-meeting and addressed them from this stone 
in 1520. The hoar of ages, with all the memories of the 



SWEDEN. 417 

revolutions of these centuries, gathers on this spot. It is 
now only a shrine for pilgrims with antiquity on the brain, 
who wander the world over to see what the world has been. 
I have a large development of that weakness, and it has a 
great gratification in this part of Europe: more, indeed, 
than it had in Egypt ; less than in Palestine. . In the Holy 
Land the sacred associations with the rehgion we love 
makes every acre of it dear to the heart : we take pleasure 
in every stone, and favor all the dust of Judea. With less 
awe, — indeed, with no awe, — but with wonder, we now 
come to Old Upsala, to the graves of the pagan deities. 

They are three conical mounds, about fifty feet in height, 
very regular in shape, with a broad plateau at the summit, 
and the unvarying tradition of the country is, that the 
largest of the mounds is the grave of Odin ; the next, 
that of Thor; and the smallest, the grave of Freytag, 
Odin's daughter. In all probability these are natural hil- 
locks artificially reduced to these regular forms, and super- 
stitiously set apart in the minds of the people as the graves 
of persons to whom their ancestors paid divine honors. 
To this hour, the name of Odin is used as that of a demon 
king, and " Go to Odin " is the profane execration which 
answers to the modern imprecation, " Go to the devil." 

On this spot the great temple to Odin was erected, and 
his worship maintained with horrid rites and ceremonies. 
The altars here have smoked with human blood and burnt 
sacrifices. In the sacred groves that surrounded the tem- 
ple these savage deities were propitiated with all manner of 
offerings, parents laying their children with their own 
hands upon the altars, and slaying them in the face of 
heaven. A record still exists of seventy-two bodies being 
seen suspended at one time from the limbs of trees in this 
grove ; men, and lower animals than men, if any animals 
are lower than such men, being offered in company to 
please the deities of the wood. 

27 



41 8 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

We entered the old church, the tower of which is said 
to be a part of the temple. This tower is the most ancient 
building in Scandinavia. A rude stone image of a human 
being, uncared for and lying in total neglect and dirt, was 
pointed out as an idol of Thor, that had once and often 
been worshipped on this spot and honored with these hu- 
man sacrifices. It seemed more likely that it was a bogus 
image, and, therefore, all the more fitting to be presented 
as one of the false gods of a superstitious race, whose 
reverence is not yet so thoroughly extinguished as to pre- 
vent them from leaving hay on the highway at night, to 
feed the horses of Odin when he comes riding through the 
country on his missions of destruction. 

On the reach of the Reformation to this region, the great 
battle of faith was fought on this spot. Here Gustavus 
Wasa, in his robes of royalty, addressed the crowds of 
pagan people, and besought them to turn from their idols 
to the living God. They replied with sullen rage, and 
threatened him with death. He finally flung off his robes, 
and told them they might have Odin for their king if they 
would, but he would not be their king unless they would 
worship the Lord God Almighty and his Son Jesus Christ. 
This was the decisive hour and word. They yielded, but 
only an outward obedience, a lip service, and it required 
long years and generations to extirpate the pagan worship 
from the minds of the people. One king of Sweden, 
Domold, was actually offered in sacrifice on Odin's altar to 
propitiate the gods when the people were suffering by 
famine. And when Eric V., in looi, embraced the Chris- 
tian rehgion and destroyed the temple, the tower of which 
is said to be standing now as part of this church, the people 
in their fury put him to death. 

From Odin, or Woden, as he was called, comes our 
Weden's-day, and from Thor our Thur's-day, and from 
Fry-tag our Fri-day ; and these every-day words make links 



SWEDEN. 419 

of association to connect our times with those fearful days, 
now past and gone for ever. 

I was surprised by finding the practice of dining out of 
doors in summer quite as common here as in France. On our 
return from Upsala to Stockhohn, Dr. Scholberg went with 
us to spend part of a day at the Deer Park, a vast tract of 
land in easy reach from the capital, that has been set apart 
for the use of the people. It is entered through a grand 
gateway, ornamented with a bronze deer on each side ; within 
are villas and cafes, and theatres and concert-rooms. Long 
drives over country roads take us under majestic old trees, 
— oaks and elms, pines and spruce ; and now and then we 
pass parties taking their mid-day or evening meal under 
the trees, or among the beautiful gardens that surround 
their houses. Our ride takes us up and down hill, in sight 
often of the sea : one has a taste of the country, rare 
indeed to be had so near the town. The quickest way to 
get there is to take one of the many little steamers that 
ply, like our omnibuses or street-cars, among the waters of 
this northern Venice ; but many of them do not hold as 
many passengers as a horse-car carries. They are just like 
a large row-boat, with sharp bows and stern, and a boiler in 
the middle. They require but very little coal, and, being 
driven with great care, very seldom, if ever, blow up the 
people sitting so near to the boiler and all its works, as to 
suggest continually the idea that it would require no great 
effort to scald the company. If our American people could 
do any thing with moderation, they might introduce these 
little iron steamers with great usefulness into the North and 
East Rivers, and, indeed, into the waters of all our great 
cities. We often availed ourselves of them, for they run 
everywhere, and the fare is lower than in our city cars. A 
few minutes of fast running brought us to Deer Park, and 
our Swedish doctor led us to what was considered the 
best restaurant in the place. Hundreds of people were 



420 • ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

already there to dine, and at the middle of the day. It did 
not speak well for the industry and habits of the people, 
that so many of them could thus quit business at such an 
hour and go off out of town to their dinner. And Stock- 
holm is the only city in the North where there is such a 
class of people. The city has the name of being very like 
Venice in this matter. And here they were in the middle 
of the day, hundreds of people, away from home, and mak- 
ing a business of eating and drinking. 

Dinner was a study and an art. They had some science 
in it. There was an ante-prandium and the prandium, and 
the dessert and the post-prandium, and more post that I did 
not see ; but what I did may be set down to give you an 
idea of the Swedes at dinner. First, every gentleman steps 
to a side table and takes a glass of schnapps, or gin, or 
other liquor that he prefers, and appetizes himself by eating 
of salt fish, dried tongue, cold meats, bread and cheese, 
making a very satisfactory snack or lunch, which would 
serve most of men for a fair dinner. The second course is 
soup, and one who is recently from Paris needs a little edu- 
cation to make it pleasant to his taste. Then follow salmon, 
chicken, roast beef, pudding, ice cream, jellies ; and with 
these dishes, which are served one after another, and all to 
be eaten, are the usual trimmings of bread and butter, with 
vegetables to any extent. When this bill of fare — a dinner 
to order, and exquisitely cooked and served in good style — 
is disposed of, you are expected to indulge in the national 
punch, an oily, fiery, pungent liquor, that should not be 
taken without medical advice ; yet it may be that it assists 
digestion after the organs have been overladen with such a 
dinner as I have just eaten and described. Now, it is not 
unlikely that such dinners are very largely enjoyed by the 
people, for all that I have mentioned may be had for 
seventy-five cents ! And as you pay for just what you 
order, and no more, it is possible to make a sufficient dinner 



SWEDEN. 



421 



for half the money, and thousands do. We protracted our 
stay till the evening (not the dark) came on, and rode to 
the charming rural retreat for the royal household, and had 




Costumes of Sweden. 



the pleasure of gratifying our democratic eyes by seeing the 
ladies of the family taking their tea out of doors, so much 



422 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

in the same way that other people take theirs, we should 
not have suspected them of being any thing more than 
common, had we not been told of it, and actually had seen 
the august servant, with a white wig and pompous strut, 
bringing the " tea things " out to the little table in the 
garden. So many other little family circles did we see 
enjoying themselves in the same way, that we could readily 
see it was a national habit, and quite in harmony with those 
domestic pictures which Frederika Bremer has made us so 
familiar with in her letters about Swedish homes. 

One thing impressed me daily in these north countries of 
Europe, — the general content and comfort of the people. 
The climate has not helped them to this, for it is far less 
favorable to general enjoyment than that of the south. But 
there is an amount of industry, intelligence, and morality, 
that make a contrast easily marked between the people 
of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, and the inhabitants 
of Spain and Italy. I find no such masses of squalid 
vice and misery here, as one may easily see in Naples or 
Seville. 

Sweden has all the elements of a great and good people. 
She is making progress, too, in moral and intellectual cul- 
ture, and her people are rising in the scale of social enjoy- 
ment. I notice these things in the rural districts even 
more than in the cities, which are so much the same all 
the world over. 



SWEDEN. 423 



CHAPTER XXXV. 

SWEDEN (^Continued). 

"\T7E are going across the kingdom, from Stockholm to 
^ ^ ■ Gottenburg. We might be carried through by rail 
in a day ; but what- should we see of life in Sweden if we 
went flying over it in that style ? We will take the slower 
and better way, by the raging canal. This canal is the Erie 
of Sweden. It extends from lake to lake, and so connects 
sea with sea, the Baltic with the Atlantic ; it leaves Malar 
lake, and takes lakes Wetter and Wener in its way, and all 
the chief towns of the interior ; and as the travelling is 
rationally moderate, the pauses frequent and long, we have 
a fine opportunity to study the country and the people 
whom we have come to see. 

It is a steam canal ; that is, a canal for steam naviga- 
tion, as the Erie and other canals of our country ought to 
be, and might be, but for the penny-wise and pound-foolish 
pohcy of poUticians. The steamers are small. We em- 
barked for this inland voyage on the Oscar, a royal name. 
The cabin had ten state-rooms, with two berths in each ; a 
wash-stand in the middle had a movable cover, making a 
table, on which I am writing. The boat is furnished with 
great simplicity, but is comfortable. It is crowded with 
passengers ; several families, with children and luggage 
immense, probably emigrants on their way to the land of 
promise. Their friends in troops thronged the wharf to 
see them go, and when the hand-shakings and hugging and 
kissing were finished, the boat was off, and the tears and 
waving of rags continued as we steamed away. 



424 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. • 

The clouds wept too, for a few moments, and then, Hke 
the passengers, dried up ; smiles and the sun came out 
again, and beautiful Stockholm seemed more beautiful as 
we left it than it did while we were in it. The green 
slopes around the city were joyous in the sinking sun. 
The iron steeple of the Ridderkolm, and the white palace, 
and many spires, glistened in the light. Gems of islands, 
with pretty bridges uniting their shores, neat villas, with 
lawns carpeted with rich verdure, abodes, we may hope, of 
sweet content and comfort, are on either hand, and now 
and then, from a window or balcony, a white handkerchief 
greets a friend on board, who responds, and we have a tele- 
graphic communication at once with the people we are 
leaving. I do love to find in strange lands, and among, 
those whose language is all unknown to me, the same ties, 
the same loves and hopes, that fill our own hearts at home. 
It makes me know that all these people are my kin, chil- 
dren of my Father. 

We have been passing across Lake Malar. But now, at 
seven in the evening, we enter a lock, and the Gota Canal 
begins. The village of Sodertelje receives us here. So 
sweet does it seem to be, in its quiet repose, that every 
house appears to invite you to stop and make a visit. It 
was at this point that St. Olaf, when a viking, was shut in 
by the fleets of the Swedes and Danes, and he cut his way 
out, not through the enemies' fleets, but by digging a canal 
to the Baltic ! This was in the eleventh century, and no 
such feats of rapid canafling were known from that time 
down to the Dutch Gap ditch, during the late war in Amer- 
ica. The story of the saint is history, and the other one 
will not be forgotten. 

The passage of the lock from the lake to the canal is 
tedious, but in the mean time the villagers come on board 
and greet friends, the children,. as in all other countries, 
ply their sales of cake and fruit, till we are out and enter 



SWEDEN. 425 

the Gota Canal. The banks for some time are fifty feet 
high, but they slope away gradually, and are beautiful in 
their green sod. Neat cottages and wooded walks and 
gardens, signs of taste and culture, and plenty, are on our 
right hand and left ; and these dwellings are so near that 
the canal seems a street like those of Venice, where you 
step from the gondola to the marble threshold of your 
house. Passengers on board recognize their acquaintance, 
and exchange salutations. Now and then an old mansion, 
with many out-buildings, shows that an extensive farm is 
behind ; and occasionally we pass a village which appears 
to be of modern creation, as if progress was making even 
in Sweden. We are following the course of the very same 
canal that St. Olaf, the viking, cut in such a hurry eight 
hundred years ago, and we soon come to the end of it, and 
run again into the sea, or a bay of the Baltic, and keep 
along the coast, among a wilderness of islands, touching 
now and then at one of them to drop or take a passenger. 
Heaps of rock on the points are painted white to guide 
us in the mazes of these intricate passes, and sometimes 
trees have been moored in the water to mark the path- 
way of the ship. Ruins of castles, each one of which 
has its legends as romantic as those of the Rhine, still 
haunt these rocks. Stegeborg Castle is the most pictur- 
esque in its solitary grandeur and desolation, and the tra- 
ditions of the country associate it with many a hard-fought 
fight in times so far gone by that history is rather too 
romantic to be credited. 

The night is now about us, but in these latitudes it 
makes little difference for seeing the country whether it is 
night or day. There was no sleeping to be done, for some 
of the rising generation rose all night, and made the httle 
cabin vocal with their cries, so that only those who enjoy 
the music of sleepless babes could be said to have a pleas- 
ant night in that vicinity. Out of my little window I see 



426 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

the islands, with their stunted firs, shores rarely rising so 
as to be entitled to the dignity of hills, sometimes a forest, 
and here and there a house, red and neat, with no signs of 
slovenliness or poverty. 

It was very early in the morning when we left the canal- 
boat, and in the midst of a drizzling rain followed a porter 
who had been directed by the captain to take our luggage 
to a hotel, the best hotel in the village of Soderkoping. 

This was the village we had selected as a quiet, retired, 
obscure, but pleasant place to pass a sabbath in, to see 
the Swedes in their rural churches and in their humble 
homes. 

It was so early when we came to the little wooden 
tavern that no one was astir. We went around to the 
back door, as the porter led us, and there knocked long 
and loud, till a maid thrust her head out of th« window, 
and made signs that she would come down and let us in, 
which she did. The American language was of no use 
now. French was no better. But we managed to let her 
know, morning as it was, we wanted beds. She led us to 
the chambers, and when we pointed to the sheets as hav- 
ing already seen service since the last wash, she took the 
hint in a moment, and, pulling them off, supplied their 
places with linen without wrinkles. After a few hours 
sleep we rose for breakfast, taking what should be set 
before us. It proved to be comfortable. Coffee with 
delicious cream, bread and beefsteak on a novel plan, 
chopped fine, made into cakes and fried in butter with 
spices. 

It was our first sabbath in Sweden. An ancient brick 
church with a spire, a venerable structure, stood near a 
swiftly flowing stream of water, embowered in majestic 
trees, and surrounded with the graves of buried generations 
of those who had worshipped within its old walls. It was a 
solemn, yet beautiful spot, and all its surroundings were in 



SWEDEN. 427 

keeping. The graveyard was laid off in little plats, and the 
graves were bordered with flowers. On some graves pots 
of flowers were set, and on others fresh-plucked flowers 
were strewn, soon to wither and to be replaced. The bell 
was tolling and the people were assembling ; all came on 
foot and by walks leading through the yard from various 
parts of the village. Some had come evidently from a dis- 
tance in the country, with books in their hands. All were 
decently devout in their deportment as they came; even 
among the young there was no levity, they were on a 
solemn errand, and were sensible of the time and place. 

The sexton sat at the door, with a big key in his hand, 
and opened the door to let the people in, but locked it when 
prayer began, and kept it locked till prayer was ended, 
and then admitted those who had gathered. Earthen 
pitchers or jugs stood on stools near the door to receive 
the offerings, and many cast in what they had. The floor 
was of stone, and many were tombstones, the inscriptions 
worn by the footsteps of the living, so that the names of 
the dead were illegible. Eight immense whitewashed pil- 
lars supported Gothic arches on which the roof rested. 
The pulpit was of wood, elaborately carved, with Scripture 
scenes and figures. A sounding-board above it was orna- 
mented with quaint devices, and surmounted by a human 
figure, perhaps an image of the Saviour. On the front the 
word Jehovah, in Hebrew letters, was inscribed. The 
pews were very plain, unpainted slips, with doors locked 
until the owners came, whose names were on slips of paper 
attached. On the sides of the church, long rude seats were 
free. We occupied them. The congregation was very 
slow in getting in. The same variety of dress that would 
mark one of our rural churches was apparent. Rich and 
poor met together. Some of the ladies were dressed elab- 
orately with the flat French bonnet ; others in a costume 
of the country, a small black shawl or kerchief thrown over 



428 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

the head and pinned under the chin. The men were all 
rustic in garb and manner, accustomed to out-of-door hard 
work. All appeared devotional, respectful ; old and young, 
on coming in, bowed in silent prayer ; all stood in singing. 
The service was Lutheran, the established religion. All 
had books of the service, which was read with a loud voice 
and much intonation by the clerk. The preacher was a 
handsome young man, with great energy of voice and no 
action. His text had the name Jesus Christ in it, and 
the words were often repeated with tenderness and earnest- 
ness. I could understand no other words, and could only 
hope that as even those were sweet to my ears, the preacher 
was commending him to the congregation as the chief 
among ten thousand, the one altogether lovely. 

Many of the men took snuff. The man on my right, two 
on my left, two in front of me, held the box under their 
noses to catch what fell back in the operation. They also 
offered the same boxes to me. One of the men sneezed 
immoderately four or five times. The sexton going up the 
aisle, and standing on the tombstone of some old saint, 
blew his (the sexton's, not the saint's) nose with his fingers, 
wiped it with a blue cotton handkerchief, polished it off with 
the back of his hand, and then walked up to the pulpit to 
do his errand. 

Bating the snuff-taking and the nasal twang in the sing- 
ing, the service was pleasing even to us who heard no words 
that we could understand. We worshipped in spirit, and 
felt at home among the children of our Father, not one of 
whom knew that two strangers from beyond the sea were 
in their village church on this pleasant summer sabbath 
morning. 

Soderkoping proved to be more of a place than we had 
anticipated. It was, and is even a watering-place. Pleas- 
antly planted on the banks of the great canal, with historic 
and towering heights rising by its side, and rejoicing also 



SWEDEN. 42q 

in the possession of a mineral spring, whose healing virtues 
have been spread among the people of this and other 
countries, it has become a resort for invaHds. It maintains 
at one end of the village a series of bathing-houses, and 
modest lodgings for visitors, and a " conversation hall " of 
moderate dimensions, and some hundreds of the ill-to-do 
may be carefully cared for, and, perhaps, cured at the same 
time. But there is no hotel, nor any thing worth the name. 
The village is primitive, simple, neat as a new pin, not the 
sign of a new building going on anywhere. It might 
have been finished years ago, and kept in order to be looked 
at as a curiosity. The dwellings are, all of them, low, un- 
pretending, small, and usually of wood. 

Dr. Gustaff Bottiger, physician and surgeon, called at 
our lodgings in Soderkoping. He spoke the French well, 
and English tolerably, and we were able to get on with him 
delightfully. He is a fine looking man, accomplished in 
manners, and superintendent of the " Water Cure." 

The mineral waters of this locality have had a reputation 
in Europe through the long period of eight hundred years. 
They were formerly resorted to by invalids from Italy and 
Spain, as well as other countries. But in the course of 
time, and after the discovery of other springs, and the in- 
vention of more, the fame of these in Sweden declined. 
The town declined also. But when the modern water-cure 
idea sprang into being, an establishment was opened here, 
which has proved to be a wonderful success. It is resorted 
to by a thousand persons every year, who come as patients, 
and patiently submit to the hydraulic, hydrostatic, and 
hydropathic, and all the hydra-headed processes of scientific 
treatment requisite to purify the system and make the 
patient clean inside and out. The cure is sure for nearly 
all diseases to which flesh is heir, but is specially efficient 
in expelling such monsters as rheumatism, gout, and dys- 
pepsia. The College of Health in Sweden, a national in- 



430 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

stitution, has the estabUshment under its control, and the 
company that have taken out a royal charter, and built 
the bath and packing houses, have made provision for 
ninety patients, who are constantly lodged, fed, and water- 
cured at public expense, and one hundred and thirty more 
are treated gratuitously, with the use of the establishment, 
while they pay for their board and lodging. Six hundred 
patients can be supplied with baths at one time. 

The establishment thus combines the advantages of a 
free and pay hospital, as do many of our asylums for the 
afflicted in America. But I am not aware that any of our 
States have made provision for sending their invalid poor 
to water cures. Our inebriate asylums may be called water 
cures in the best sense of the term, and it is quite certain, 
whether intemperance be a sin or a disease, or both, there 
is no hope of a cure without the use of cold water. 

Here at Soderkoping the rich and the poor are so min- 
gled and packed and purified, that the distinction is not 
palpable, and the institution is a model of social and medi- 
cal propriety and equality. 

Dr. Bottiger is enthusiastic in his pursuit of the grand 
idea he is here set to work out, and the patients catch his 
enthusiasm, believe in him and in the cure, and that helps 
the cure amazingly. It is not worth while to discuss the 
reason of the thing, or to inquire whether the mineral 
water here flowing at least eight centuries, and probably 
eighteen and many more, is any better for the cure than 
other waters. I am inclined to believe that there is 
superior virtue in the springs. But any waters are good 
enough, with the advantage of air, exercise, temperance, 
and recreation, to make most people whole who are only 
partially broken down. Nine-tenths of these invalids, 
especially of the richer classes, are victims of their own 
imprudences. God gave man reason, but he makes a poor 
use, or rather no use of it, when he works his brain so 



SWEDEN. 43 1 

much as to overwork it, and loads his stomach so as to 
overload it, and by neglect of the laws of health, which are 
just as well defined as the moral laws of God, brings upon 
himself dyspepsia, and that long catalogue of evils that 
haunt the victim. He must be a bad liver who has a dis- 
eased liver. It was his own fault, in the first place, and 
the warning that he had he neglected, and now when he 
comes to Soderkoping, or goes to Kissingen, Spa, or Kreus- 
nacht, for the benefit of his health, he is suffering the 
penalty of his own indulgence or neglect. If an ante- 
mortem coroner's inquest should be held on his arrival at 
the springs, the verdict would be served him right. 

There are six or eight water-cure establishments in 
Sweden, one in Norway, none in Denmark. The system is 
popular in this part of Europe, and in Germany. Patients 
appear to be attracted to them not so much by advertise- 
ments of special advantages, but by the reports which 
patients spread abroad, when they go away relieved of their 
maladies. 

Just after the doctor left us a young man called who had 
heard that two Americans were here, and he wished to get 
information respecting the United States. He brought 
with him a phrase-book in German and English, or rather 
in German and American, for the book was called " The 
Little American," and was made to teach the American 
language. The most it could do was to aid the young to 
pick up a few phrases of the language, and to stimulate 
their desire to emigrate to the western world. The book 
was evidently issued by the steamship or emigration com- 
panies, for it gave all needful directions as to the expense 
and mode of getting to America, and it held out the most 
encouraging prospects to those who might be tempted to 
go. The desire is wide-spread — to seek a home in the New- 
World. Books and papers and pictures are industriously 
spread among the village and rural population to stimulate 



432 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

this desire. The wages of labor are represented as so great 
in contrast with their own earnings, while nothing is said 
of the cost of living, — the price of land is said to be so 
low in comparison with land here, which is not to be bought 
at all, — that they are filled with the idea of going to a 
country where they suppose they may get all they want for 
little or nothing. To what a sad reality they wake up when 
they set their feet on our shores, and find themselves in the 
midst of the harpies of New York ! 

Our bill for boarding and lodging, every thing included, 
at this village tavern, where we were well cared for, and had 
all that we could reasonably desire, was less than a dollar a 
day for each person. Board at private houses can be pro- 
cured for much less. And if you are not able to pay any 
thing, and have the dyspepsia, it is quite likely that I could 
give you a line of introduction to the doctor, who would put 
you on the free list, pack you, duck you, all but drown you, 
cure you, and send you on your way rejoicing, with refresh- 
ing memories of Soderkoping. 



SWEDEN. 433 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 

SWEDEN {Continued). 

"\T 7E went on board the canal steamer very early in the 
^ ' morning, and found the deck covered with passen- 
gers taking their coffee as comfortably as if they were at 
home. This was not breakfast, that was to come by and 
by; but they turned out early, and all wanted coffee im- 
mediately. 

The steamer was large, adapted to the canal, the lake, 
and sea, for all these waters are to be ploughed in going 
from Stockholm to Gottenburg. One of the sailors hear- 
ing us speaking the English, addressed us in the same lan- 
guage, for he had been in the British service until he 
spoke the English as well as his own tongue. Indeed, I 
have rarely heard the English spoken by a foreigner so 
well as by this Swedish sailor ; yet he had acquired it 
solely by the ear. 

Locks are now frequent, and the passage very slow. 
One of them was tended by a comely maiden, not more 
than sixteen years old, dressed neatly with an embroidered 
petticoat, which she had to expose in pushing the beam 
around to open and close the lock. This was a novel ap- 
plication of female influence, but not very pleasing, being 
the first thing I had seen in Sweden that was uncivilized 
and offensive. Lock after lock, slowly and tediously we 
made our way through a pretty country, the fields well 
tilled, woods and green meadows interchanging often, and 
the land fenced off into smaller divisions than we had 

28 



434 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

noticed in any other country. The soil appeared to be 
good from the abundance of the growth. The houses 
were neat, and the out-buildings numerous and well ar- 
ranged, showing signs of thrift and taste. The look was 
that of a farming people well to do. 

We enter another lake, short, but very pretty, by name 
Asplagen, with richly cultivated shores and sweet homes 
nestling among the trees ; and on the rising grounds we see 
beautiful pictures of Swedish life, rich and prosperous res- 
idences, where it is evident that the good things of this life 
are enjoyed, and plenty of them. 

An elderly Russian gentleman and a Swedish professor 
of physics in Stockholm were among the passengers ; the 
Swede had travelled in America, and was very happy to 
meet an American, while the Russian was greatly interested 
in learning of that wonderful country. He spoke five lan- 
guages, and he said that his countrymen, if educated at all, 
could speak both Enghsh and French. While these gen- 
tlemen were my constant companions on board, they cor- 
dially hated each other's country, the old antipathy of 
Russian and Swede cropping out continually, and making 
it a difficult task to keep the peace between them. 

Another stretch of the canal brought us to Lake Roxen, 
a wide and beautiful expanse, the passage through it re- 
quiring an hour. At the western end of it is the town of 
Berg, where a hill is to be surmounted by a series of locks, 
eleven in number, opening one into another, and the process 
requires so much time that we can leave the ship and make 
an excursion to an interesting and ancient church in the 
neighborhood. It is the Vetra-Kloster, Gothic in style, and 
built in 1 128, when Inge II. was king in Sweden, and he is 
buried in it. The Douglas family of Scotland, in the time 
of Cromwell, came to this place to find a safe retreat, and 
they became famous in the wars of Sweden. They are in- 
terred right royally in this sanctuary. The mansion they 



SWEDEN. 435 

occupied stands conspicuously on the borders of the beau- 
tiful lake, commanding splendid views of this lovely scenery. 
Villages are scattered over a rich country, and the spires 
of churches pointing heavenward tell the pious hopes of a 
people whose God is the Lord. The church stands in 
the midst of a large graveyard, and this is filled with 




RoxEN Locks. 



flowers and shrubs and shade trees, and the monumental 
stones bear dates of great antiquity. The portal of the 
church was once the prison of a convent which was at- 
tached to the church, for this was built when Romanism 
ruled this region as well as southern Europe. The floor 
is of stone, and the aisles are of tombstones bearing in- 
scriptions in German, Swedish, and Latin ; epigrammatic 



436 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

and striking some of them are, and have silently preached 
to the passer-by for some centuries. ''Mors certa, Jiora 
incerta!' and " Hodie miJii^ eras tibVy' are not very senten- 
tious, but they have their point on a gravestone. 

In a stone sarcophagus of very singular form, with a long 
inscription upon it, lies the body of Inge II. ; wooden 
effigies of unknown personages, divine or human alike un- 
intelligible to me, keep the dead monarch company in his 
sleep of the ages. Another chapel contains two sarcophagi, 
in which side by side through successive centuries the 
royal ashes rest of those whose names are,now forgotten, but 
might be spelled out, if it were worth the trouble. And in 
another chapel are the tombs of the Scotch Douglases, who 
fled their own country and found glory and graves, that's 
all, in this retired spot in the heart of Sweden. For this 
is purely a rural church, far from the town and all the 
busy haunts of men, a fitting place for worship, and a 
comely spot for graves. It has been used for both, more 
than seven hundred years. The avarice of man has not 
encroached upon its acres, nor coveted its stones. 

Returning from our excursion, we heard the sound of 
children's voices, and were led to a neat school-house in a 
pleasant enclosure, retired from the street, and being in 
the pursuit of knowledge we turned in to see and hear. 
About fifty children were receiving instruction from a mas- 
ter, who courteously bade us enter, and proceeded with his 
work. All the scholars, and they were of both sexes, were 
standing, and reading in concert from a history of Sweden. 
The reading being finished, the teacher put questions to 
them on the portion they bad read, which they answered 
promptly, and showed lively interest in the lesson. Around 
the walls were suspended maps of the world and of the 
several countries, and there were black-boards and all need- 
ful appliances, such as would belong to a well appointed 
school. In the Universal Exhibition at Paris I had seen a 



SWEDEN. 437 

Swedish school-house with its furniture, &c., and had re- 
marked that no country made a better exhibition of the 
apparatus for educating children than Sweden. 

Returning from the visit to the Vetra-Kloster, and its 
graves of the kings and the Douglases, we found that the 
boat had made its way through the eleven locks and was 
once more fairly launched on the peaceful bosom of the 
grand canal. It was the hour for dining, and the table 
was spread on deck, awnings overhead and at the sides to 
shelter us from the cool wind while eating. The Swedish 
dinner, even on a canal-boat, was good, preceded by the in- 
evitable schnapps and radishes and other appetizers, and 
followed by a tolerable soup, fine fish, veal, puddings, and 
various trimmings needless to mention. I give you the 
bill of fare merely to show that there is enough to eat all 
the world over, and that you are not likely to suffer for 
want of comfortable food, even on a canal in the heart of 
Sweden. 

We pass through many villages, each with its venerable 
church, and houses shaded with overhanging trees, farms 
well tilled, and now smiling with growing harvests and 
heavy clover. I saw no Indian corn, though I looked for it 
often. Probably the warm weather is too short-lived for 
the crop to ripen. No women were working in the fields. 
But we came to a drawbridge, and whistling for some 
one to open it, a woman ran from her house with the lever 
in her hand, ground away as for dear life, and by the time 
we reached it the draw was open for us to pass through. 
The poor woman was exhausted by the severe exertion, her 
lips were white as snow, and she looked ready to faint as 
we glided by her, and the pilot gave her a caution to keep a 
better lookout next time. 

And now we cross another lake, Boren by name, the 
most beautiful of any we have yet seen. This frequent 
change from the monotony of the canal to the lovely 



438 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

scenery of these lakes, imparts a charm to the journey 
across the country which we did not anticipate. We now 
come to Motala, where the greatest Swedish iron-works are 
located. An English company has possession of one of 
the most valuable iron-mines, and the Swedish government 
has set up a vast establishment here for the building of loco- 
motives, iron-clad steamers, monitors, &c., which are said 
to be equal to any that are made in the world. The boat 
had to lie here for freight long enough for us to go through 
all the works, which were freely open to our inspection. 

We enter Lake Wetter, one of the largest lakes in Eu- 
rope. We are soon out at sea, at least so far that we 
cannot see the land. It is very rough, with high wind. 
One of the sailors assured me that old salts, for whom 
the ocean itself had no terrors, are sometimes made sick 
by the pitch and toss of Lake Wetter. We touch at Wad- 
stena, a large town from which our good ship takes its 
name : a place of great importance in the commerce of the 
country, with shops on the docks, like those of a seaport. 
What I supposed were bags of grain, lying in great heaps 
to be taken on board, proved to be dried peas, and they, 
with beans, must be largely grown in these parts. In the 
suburbs of the place were elegant residences, with fine 
parks and beautiful gardens, old and wide-spreading trees, 
flower-beds and ornamental shrubbery, some of them evi- 
dently pubhc resorts for the people, and others the ap- 
pendages of private residences. Wealth, culture, and 
enjoyment were thus revealed, and I had that pleasure 
which so often greets me in travel, — the consciousness 
that a new and strange people, whom I shall probably 
never see again, are taking just as much comfort in life, 
and working out the ends of living just as well as the in- 
habitants of other lands with whom we are more familiar. 
The Swedish peasantry live well, generally, and are not 
exposed to the evils of want, as the hard-working classes 



SWEDEN. 439 

in Poland and Russia. Labor is cheap, and provisions are 
cheap also. The houses of the well-to-do people are often 
made with double windows ; they are rarely more than one 
story high, the ceilings are low, and thus they are more 
readily kept warm in winter. Indeed, I am assured that 
the inhabitants in these northern countries, including Rus- 
sia, often suffer more from heat than cold in their houses 
during the severe weather of their cold season. Educa- 
tion is generally diffused in Sweden, nearly all being able 
to read and write ; and, taken as a whole, the people being 
moral, industrious, frugal, and contented, what could they 
have more ? 

The captain came to my cabin, where I was writing, and 
asked me on deck to see the sunset and the loveliest view 
as we approached the village of Forsvik. It stands at the 
head of a small lake, and is embosomed with field and 
forest — a sweet picture '; the manor-house, whose owner is 
also at the head of the iron-works, is large and elegant. 
Here we pass into the canal again, and through a dense 
forest, the banks of the canal being bold and rock-bound, 
and we just graze them as we pass ; indeed, we seem to 
be more on land than water ; and in fifteen minutes we 
have cut through the woods, and rush out into another 
lake, coming soon to the highest level between the two 
seas. We are three hundred and twenty feet above the 
sea level, all of which has been surmounted by locks, and 
now we must begin the descent by the same means, seventy- 
five locks in all being required to take us up from one sea, 
on one side of Sweden, and set us down in another sea, on 
the other side. 

The evening had been delicious on deck, but as it drew 
nigh to midnight, I would turn in. My companion for the 
night was the Russian gentleman whose friendship I had 
secured during the day. His long, white beard had com- 
manded my respect. He had asked me innumerable ques- 



440 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

tions of my country and myself, all of which I had answered 
to the best of my ability. He had learned my name, — 
which he pronounced Preem, as all the continental Euro- 
peans do, — and somewhat of my profession, and he de- 
termined to do the polite thing, and in English too, before 
going into retirement for the night. His berth was on one 
side of the little cabin, mine on the other. We could shake 
hands across, but we did not. He arrayed himself in his robes 
of the night : a red night-cap surmounted his head, making 
a fiery contrast with his snow-white beard. Sitting up on 
his couch, he addressed me with great dignity and form- 
ality : " My Reverend Preem, I wish you good-night," and 
subsided into the pillow. 

In the course of the night we steamed out of the canal 
into Lake Wenner, the largest in Sweden, and the third in 
size of all the lakes in Europe. Even in bed we could per- 
ceive that we were at sea, for the roll of the ship was as if 
we were on the Mediterranean. But we made the most of 
the passage before morning, and touched the next day at 
Johkoping, one of the most important inland towns in the 
kingdom. 

This Lake Wenner abounds in trout, and to catch them 
of the modest weight of forty pounds is nothing remarkable. 
It would have been remarked, however, if we had had the 
luck to catch one of that weight, or any thing like it. 
, A Swedish ship-captain entertained me with stories of his 
life on this canal, with vessels worked by sails, pulled by 
man, and sometimes bullock power, creeping cautiously 
through the lakes, and running in shore whenever the wind 
was up. He said that he had lived all his days in this way. 
and was now taking his ease. All day, as we were making 
our way slowly along, we had been hearing the praises 
sounded of the Falls of Trollhatten, which we were to reach 
in the afternoon. The scenery had been improving, rising 
sometimes into the grand, and always picturesque and 



SWEDEN. 441 

pleasing, as we passed well-tilled farms and the abodes of 
prosperous peasants. A range of locks must be worried 
through to get by the Falls, and this gives us the time we 
want, to see and enjoy one of the finest cataracts in Europe ! 
You know they have nothing very great in that line. 1 have 
seen them all, and written them up as much as they would 
bear, but they do not amount to any thing very wonderful, 
nothing indeed to be compared with ours. We have half a 
dozen falls that would outleap and outroar all theirs, and we 
must praise them as an off-set to their palaces and pictures 
and stone women. They have marvels of art ; we, wonders 
of nature, especially Niagara. Foreigners enjoy a descrip- 
tion of Niagara by one who has seen it more than to hear 
of any thing else in America. But they have often been 
sullenly incredulous when I have assured them that a mighty 
river, with the water of half a dozen inland seas, gathers 
itself within banks a mile asunder, and then makes one 
prodigious plunge over a precipice 150 feet deep, into an 
unfathomed gulf ! 

Trollhatten does not attempt such a feat. But the river 
is caught among a mass of rocks in a narrow gorge, just 
where the mountains break down to the valley, and the 
stream comes roaring, tumbling, foaming, rushing head- 
long with power, fury, madness, indescribable. Water in 
motion is always beautiful, and when a mighty volume of it 
is struggling with resisting forces, tearing its way over and 
down the jagged rocks, and among the green trees of over- 
hanging precipices, what is beautiful becomes sublime and 
fearful, and admiration rises into awe. In one place the 
rocks have been actually cut away by art to allow the pas- 
sage of the water for use, and then the torrent leaps seventy 
feet at one bound into a frightful abyss. One lofty rock, 
with a broad, smooth face, like a great tablet, is inscribed 
with the names of kings, and the dates of their visit to this 
romantic and interesting spot. 



442 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

We are now to take the river. The canal is at an end for 
us. Ah'eady we have a taste of more exciting navigation. 
To get the steamer into the river the sailors are working 
away as if for dear life. One poor fellow is caught by the 
leg in a hawser-line, carried overboard, and when brought 
on deck is found to have one of his legs broken. It was a 
sad termination to our pleasure excursion of three days. 
We had been brought into such constant intercourse with 
the men that we knew them all, and felt a personal interest 
in the poor seaman now stretched helpless on the deck. He 
was carried to the forecastle, and put away to be taken to 
the hospital at Gottenburg, but we could not put him out of 
mind so easily. After the excitement was over, I asked the 
captain what the owners would do for a sailor thus injured 
in their service, and learned that they would pay his hospital 
charges, and nothing more ; in the mean time, while he was 
getting well, his family must look out for themselves. I 
then proposed to the captain and the Swedish professor that 
we should take up a collection among the passengers to help 
the man's family in their want. To my surprise, they said 
it was a thing unknown among them, and would not meet 
with any favor if attempted. They regarded the idea as 
quite fanciful and preposterous. Well, I said, "In my 
country the passengers would do it ; if you will interpret 
for me I will make a little speech, and you will see that 
they will not only give, but be greatly pleased with the op- 
portunity of doing something." The professor consented 
to be the interpreter, and we called the passengers together. 
I told them that "two or three Americans travelling with 
them through their beautiful and interesting country had 
greatly enjoyed the pleasant voyage of the last few days ; 
but its pleasure had been marred by the sad accident that 
had just occurred to one engaged in our service. Though 
he was unknown to us, he was a man and a brother, and in 
the country from which I came, when such an event took 



SWEDEN. 443 

place, we were in the habit of showing our sympathy for 
the injured by giving him money to Ughten the calamity 
that had befallen him. You would gladly do so if you were 
permitted, and we propose to go around with a hat and let 
every one who is disposed contribute what he or she is 
pleased to give." The professor turned the speech into 
Swedish, or at least said as much in that tongue, probably 
more and better. I could not understand a word ; but his 
remarks were received with lively applause, and at his allu- 
sions to the Americans I nodded most intelligently, taking 
it for granted that he was saying something complimentary. 
We then received the gifts, and I believe that every pas- 
senger, male and female, gave something, and with a cheer- 
fulness beautiful to observe. 

A lone tower, rising above a mass of ruins, with a single 
wall surmounted by a heap of stones, strikingly resembling 
a huge lion, is all that remains of Hongfel, one of the most 
extensive of the old-time castles of Sweden. Here the 
river divides into two. We enter the left branch, passing 
near a fertile island ; and, as the sun is going down behind a 
bank of threatening clouds, the city of Gottenburg, a sea- 
port on the German ocean, rises upon our view with com- 
manding beauty as we approach, and see the towers of its 
churches and the roofs of its principal buildings glistening 
in the last rays of the summer's setting sun. The harbor 
is well protected, and the forest of masts presented all the 
appearances of a busy seaport. The usual crowd was on 
the wharf as our boat came to, but perfect order prevailed. 
No rush was made for baggage or passengers, but each one 
waited to be called for, — a model of good breeding that 
might be shown to advantage in the wilds of western civi- 
lization. Those of us who had become well acquainted in 
three days' companionship now shook hands and bade each 
other farewell in our several tongues, the broken-legged 
sailor not being forgotten, as he lay in his bunk waiting to 



444 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

be taken to the hospital. We were soon distributed in our 
several directions, and parted, perhaps not to meet again, 
certainly not all of us, in this world. 

It will give you an idea of the prices that rule in this 
country if I tell you that at the wharf we stepped into a 
carriage with two horses, our luggage was put on, we were 
driven to the hotel GotJia Kallare, the luggage was taken 
up to the chambers, and the price for the whole service was 
less than fifty cents of our money. Sweden still bears the 
palm of cheapness over all the countries I have seen. 

Gottenburg proved to be an interesting place, though 
noted more for its commerce with Britain and America than 
for any thing else. The Merchants' Exchange is a model in 
its way, combining a hall, and rooms for social entertain- 
ments, concerts, &c., which are managed by municipal 
authority. A museum of antiquities, illustrating the his- 
tory and condition of the country, is well arranged, and 
would profitably detain the traveller a day or two to study 
it. The paintings are also interesting, where they preserve 
the memory of men and things belonging to Sweden, and 
of these there were many. 'The landlord of our hotel hav- 
ing learned from some of the Americans in our party that I 
was connected with the press, took pains to bring me into 
contact with my brethren of that fraternity in Gottenburg. 
Mr. Rubenson called and led me to the office of the Daily 
News^ a paper devoted chiefly to the interests of merchants 
and sailors. I went through their press-rooms, composing 
and editorial apartments, and found them remarkably like 
those I was quite familiar with at home. This paper has a 
circulation of 8,000 daily, and on Saturday is published an 
edition of 3,000 extra, because on that day the poorer 
classes buy a paper for Sunday reading. 

Mr. Rubenson took me to visit an institution the Hke of 
which I never heard of in any other city, and yet so useful 
in its object and result, that I had great satisfaction in 



SWEDEN. 445 

I am very anxious to ' have it known to the 
ladies of my own afflicted land. It was established by the 
energetic benevolence of one of the ladies of the city, who 
succeeded in getting a building specially erected and fitted 
for the purpose of giving young women instruction and 
practice in the arts of domestic life. 

Impelled by a desire to benefit both the servant and the 
mistress, by improving the qualities of the one, and adding 
thus to the comfort of the other, this Swedish lady, with 
charity equal to her countrywoman Jenny Lind, or Fredrika 
Bremer, established this school. Girls of good moral char- 
acter, who wish to go out to service, are received, and, under 
the direction of a competent matron, are made adepts in 
the sublime mysteries of the kitchen and laundry. The 
establishment takes in washing and baking and cooking for 
private families, hotels, and restaurants, and the money thus 
earned goes far toward paying the current expenses. The 
girls are taught to put their hands to every thing that must 
be done in the household. By turns they wait upon table, 
and the matron is at its head to give instruction, that they 
may become expert in serving the dinner as well as in cook- 
ing it, and those wlio sit at table may also learn to be 
decent in eating it. 

And it was pleasant to learn that admission to this train- 
ing-house is regarded as a great privilege. It is even se- 
cured as a reward for proficiency in the free schools ; so 
that a young woman who has distinguished herself for good 
conduct in school, is entitled to still further education in 
this house as a reward of merit. These young women are 
in constant demand by families, who are ready to pay them 
higher wages, because they are graduates of a training- 
school where they have learned the theory and practice of 
household labor. 

One of the greatest enjoyments of wanderings in foreign 
lands has been found in the discovery that there are good 



446 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

people all over the world ; that they are toiling and praying 
for the good of their fellow-creatures, trying to make 
society better, the burden of the poor more easy to be 
borne, and this by helping them to help themselves. The 
future of these northern countries is more hopeful because 
of the enlightened philanthropy of such as the friends I 
have just met. 



NORWAY. 447 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 

NORWAY. 

T TP in this part of the world you must be very careful 
to look out for yourself, in all matters that require 
certainty as to times and ways of travel. It was hard to 
learn when a steamer would go north from Gottenburg, and 
all that we did learn from captains and porters and land- 
lords proved to be erroneous. But at last it was settled 
that a boat would be along the next morning from Copen- 
hagen, bound to Christiania, and if we were at the 
wharf at four a.m. we could go ! We were called at 
three, and it was just as light as noonday. The luggage 
was taken by hand-carts, and the travellers, a goodly com- 
pany, trudged to the wharf, a sleepy, grumbling set of 
Americans, who were sore vexed at being waked so early ; 
four families, who met at Gottenburg, and were now em- 
barking on the German Ocean to visit Norway. We suf- 
fered on deck from the cold, and were obliged to seek 
shelter in the cabin, but every berth, settee, chair, and peg, 
were occupied, so great was the crowd of passengers on 
the Viking to-day. Breakfast was served early, beginning 
with Norwegian cheese, quite equal to basswood, followed 
by eggs, carviar, beefsteaks, salt fish, and other things, and 
by the time this was over, the day was fairly opened ; one 
of the brightest and most beautiful, with its cool, bracing, 
stimulating air, that we had ever seen. The Skager-rack 
(we had been familiar with the Skager-rack and Cattegat 
in the geography from school-days) stretched away to the 
horizon, seemingly to our own loved land in the west. 



44^ ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

At Freidericksvern we landed a large number of our 
passengers. This is a naval station, and the residence of 
officers with their families. The hills about the picturesque 
town are attractive to the mineralogist, and the " crystals of 
shining feldspar are seen at a distance." I did not see 
them. Entering a bay, and keeping near to the rock- 
bound coast, we steamed up a river for several hours, 
touched at Moss, crossed over to Hosten, a great naval 
station, and found a host of people on the wharf, to wait 
the steamer's arrival. Here the fiord, or bay, divides into 
two, one leading to Dremmen, and the other, which we 
pursue, to Christiania, the capital of Norway. The moun- 
tains on the left are bold ; sometimes lofty perpendicular 
rocks rise from the water. The sight is striking, grand 
indeed. Night approaches, but not darkness. It is nine, 
ten, eleven o'clock, and still the daylight lingers. At mid- 
night we arrived at our destined port. We have been steam- 
ing almost due north twenty hours. Our baggage must be 
searched, for Norway has its own customs, though under the 
same crown with Sweden. But the search was slight and 
soon over. Perhaps you will be as much surprised to hear 
as I was to see that the city of Christiania is so much like 
other cities ; if I had awoke out of sleep and found myself 
in it, I would not have supposed myself in the northern- 
most kingdom of Europe, and on the confines of the frozen 
zone. It has indeed a frigid look, a barrenness of ornament, 
a precise, severe, and perfectly plain style of building, if 
that may be called a style which is no style at all. But 
there is nothing about it to excite observation, except it be 
that it is more of a city, with greater attractions in objects 
of interest to visit, than one would look for in Norway. 

The house at which I am stopping, Hotel du Nord, has 
rooms for two hundred guests ; it is a hollow square, with 
a balcony on the four sides of the quadrangular court 
within, and each room on the balcony has a door opening 



NORWAY. 449 

upon it. On the piazza of the central building is a plat- 
form covered with awning, and surrounded with shrubs and 
flowers, with a fountain of water playing in the midst. I 
find in these hyperborean regions the people take pains to 
adorn their houses with plants and blooming flowers, to 
cheat themselves with the pleasing delusion that they are 
just as well off as those who dwell in more genial climes. 
This is true of the dwellers in the cities, and in the rural 
villages also, where I have noticed that windows are filled 
with plants exposed to the sun and the passer's eye. 

The stove in my room is of cast iron, and wood is the 
fuel. As it is now midsummer (July 6), we do not intend 
to use it, but it is a curiosity. It is four stories high, the 
lower one for the fuel, and the others are chambers to hold 
dishes for warming, and also to increase the surface for 
radiation of heat. We enjoy the sight of it, hoping that in 
the dreadful weather to come some of our successors may 
enjoy the heat thereof. 

This morning we took our first breakfast in Norway, and, 
according to our usual custom of giving you a bill of fare 
in each country, to let you know how we live in strange 
lands, I will just mention that we had for our simple repast 
coffee, cold lobster, beefsteak, ham, tongue, corned beef, 
fried sole, boiled salmon, herring, with bread, butter, cheese, 
strawberries, and all other things needed to make out a 
meal. 

The city has about fifty thousand people in it, and makes 
progress very slowly. It has a palace, which I positively 
did not visit, having made a resolution not to be tempted 
to go through any more, and a museum, which greatly 
entertained me for an hour or two. 

In these Scandinavian countries (meaning Sweden, Nor- 
way, and Denmark), they are very curious to discover and 
to preserve all remiiants of the heathen worship of Odin 
which once prevailed, and this museum has some very 

29 



450 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

precious relics of that dead past. A massive gold collar, 
and various ornaments, which were found buried in the 
earth, are very naturally referred to the days of idolatry, 
when they adorned a statue of Odin. And I am more 
and more convinced that to this day there is a lurking 
reverence among the ignorant peasantry for the deity of 
those old-time heroes, whom their fathers worshipped. So 
prone is human nature to superstition, and so hard is it to 
blot out of the popular mind and heart those ideas which,, 
even in remote generations, got firm hold. 

Another very remarkable memorial of past times and 
customs treasured in the museum is the girdle and the 
knives which the gentlemen of Norway used in the good 
old days, now lost, when they pitched into one another in 
duels. First, each one of the combatants took a butcher- 
knife (we call them bowie-knives now), and plunged it as 
deep as he could into a block of wood. The blade, so much 
as was not in the wood, was then wound round tight with 
strips of leather, and the knives were cautiously drawn 
out, and each man took his own. It therefore had now a 
longer or shorter point, according to the strength he had to 
plunge it into the wood. Their girdles were then fastened 
together, so that they could not get away from one another. 
Now they went at it hip and thigh, cut and slash, till one 
or both were killed. If modern duellists were put to such 
tests of strength and courage, there would be few chal- 
lenges. 

Much more pleasant to look upon, and a memento of a 
very curious and perhaps a pleasing custom, which, how- 
ever, is not of the by-gone times, but still common in Scan- 
dinavia, at least in the Bergen district, is the crown and 
girdle and frontlet worn by the bride on the wedding day. 
But all brides are not allowed to wear such ornaments as 
these: only brides who have been good girls all the time 
before. If they have been naughty, they must be married 



NORWAY. 45 1 

without these distinctions, and we may well believe that 
they are therefore very highly esteemed among young 
women in the north country. It seems to intimate, also, 
that it is not altogether a rare thing for a bride to be de- 
prived of the privilege of being thus distinguished, for it is 
hardly possible that such a state of society can exist any- 
where as to have an advertisement made at a wedding 
that a bride is no better than she should be. But the 
manners and customs of the world are very queer to the 
notions of those whose manners and customs are very 
different, and in no part of domestic life are these habits 
so monstrously diverse as in the matter of wedding cere- 
monies. 

While wandering through the museum I found that the 
collection of heathen relics was comparatively small. They 
are often found by the peasants in their tillage of the land, 
but they keep them secret and sacred, attaching peculiar 
value to them as charms and medicines, averting evil and 
healing diseases. So powerful still is this hereditary heath- 
enism in the vulgar mind. 

The university is beautifully situated, and handsomely 
appointed for the instruction of about a thousand students, 
that great number flocking here to enjoy the lectures of its 
distinguished professors. But Norway has done very little 
for science or literature, though such names as Holberg 
and Wessel are well known abroad. The men of learning 
in Norway generally publish their writings in the German 
language, to find readers. Norway would furnish a limited 
field. Education is general, and it is rare to find a person 
who cannot read and write. Nearly every town has its 
newspaper, and at the capital there are reviews and maga- 
zines which evince learning and ability. 

In the afternoon we set off to go by rail and boat a 
hundred miles into the interior, to spend the sabbath among 
the natives in the heart of the country. Going north from 



452 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

Christiania we found the scenery tame, but cheerful, as we 
passed among well-tilled farms, through small villages, with 
low but comfortable houses, and in each village a neat 
church, which told us, as we rode by, of two good things, 
first, that the people were Christians, and, secondly, that 
they were not split up into sects. Long may it be before a 
little village in Norway, with five hundred inhabitants, shall 
require five places of worship ! Now and then in the ojjen 
country a white mansion gave evidence of wealth and taste. 
A stream of water and frequent ponds, with saw-mills, rafts 
of logs and piles of lumber, . showed the staple of this 
region ; and we saw forests of fir, pine, spruce, and birch, 
the hardy natives of the North. Occasionally we caught 
fine views of distant hills, with long intervals of field and 
forest and villages. 

At EiDsvoLD we came to Lake Mjosen. You can't pro- 
nounce the name of the lake ? Well, you must do as well 
as you can. The lake is a beautiful expanse of water 
sixty miles long, four or five wide, full of salmon and trout, 
and navigated by steamers, on one of which we are speedily 
embarked. The company is a curious mixture. Three or 
four American families, some English, many natives, and 
all social and friendly, for they are beyond the restraints of 
society, and are willing to give and take, as people should 
be, but are not, all the world over. We do not know how 
many kind-hearted neighbors we have in travel or at home 
until we break our respective shells and speak out. 

The English commercial traveller is everywhere, and, of 
course, was on this boat. He is altogether ahead of the 
smartest, cutest, and most inquisitive Yankee. He will ask 
more questions and tell you more of his business than our 
communicative countrymen are disposed to mention. One 
of them was near me this afternoon ; he was on his annual 
excursion among the inland towns of Norway, to get orders 
for his employer's house (iron goods was the line of trade) 



NORWAY. 453 

in England. When he began his travels, a few years ago, 
he was the only agent from the city where the business was 
located; now, he said, there are twelve houses in the same 
trade, each one of which has its " commercial traveller " 
persecuting the natives of Norway into buying their goods. 
They must learn the language, of course, and then go from 
village to village all the summer, driving their business with 
energy, followed by other travellers of other houses, in other 
lines of traffic. So the shops of England are open at the 
door of every trader in the most obscure parts of this se- 
cluded cbuntry. So the iron and cotton and woollen goods 
of Sheffield and Birmingham and Manchester are forced 
out of the little island of their production into all the earth. 
I presume we do our share of the same kind of pushing ; 
but John Bull is the master of the business. 

On this boat were files of newspapers and a neat library 
of well selected books in Norse, and German, and in 
English, for the use of passengers. The large number of 
volumes in our own tongue showed that they made special 
circulations on having English-speaking travellers. Indeed, 
in the summer season Norway is taken possession of by the 
English. All the streams are bought or hired by sportsmen 
in England, who come annually, and thus secure the exclur 
sive right to catch the fish in them. Many who are not aware 
of this " pre-emption " come to Norway, and are disap- 
pointed of their sport. 

Close by the hotel stands an ancient church, well pre- 
served, and very interesting. The pastor resides five miles 
away ; but he arrived at the hotel before service, for the 
good people of the inn were his parishioners, and they make 
him welcome every Sunday morning for a little refreshment 
after his ride and before his labors begin. He was a very 
fat man, with a face that did not bespeak the scholar and 
divine any more than did the faces of my lamented friends 
Bethune and Krebs, both eloquent and learned, but not 



454 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

spirittcel in their physique. He spoke neither Enghsh nor 
French, and our conversation was, therefore, only of the 
most general character, patched out of German and Latin. 

At eleven o'clock we went over to the church. It is built 
of logs, in the form of a cross ; the logs fitted nicely to- 
gether, and boarded rudely on the outside. No plaster or 
paint was on the inside. Pine-tree branches, with project- 
ing sticks, were convenient hat stands. In front of the 
pulpit the altar was railed off, and over the railing was the 
national coat of arms. Over the altar were little images, a 
crucifix. Virgin Mary, and such signs of lingering supersti- 
tion as the Lutheran Church in these countries still retains. 

The women sat on one side of the middle aisle, the men 
on the other. The men were fine looking, generally of good 
height and stalwart. The women were not good looking. 
They wore no peculiar costume. Many had bonnets on. 
Some had only a handkerchief on their heads, of white, 
yellow, red, or spotted, as the taste of each suggested. Some 
elderly ladies wore white lace or muslin caps, extending in 
front, and some had a black silk cap on the back of their 
heads. The men wore plain, black clothes, coarse, but clean 
and decent. 

They were devout in appearance and very attentive. The 
preacher was earnest, and in his manner patriarchal, pastoral, 
affectionate. He had no Bible, and no notes before him, but 
discoursed with great fluency and fervor. 

After sermon the Lord's Supper was celebrated. The 
whole congregation communed. The house was packed 
full of people, and it appeared to me that every individual 
came forward to partake. They went up in successive 
groups, knelt, and the pastor placed his hand on the head 
of each one and pronounced words of absolution. When 
this was done the assistant came out and put a white gown 
on the pastor, over the black with a white ruff, in which he 
had preached. The assistant said a prayer while the pastor 



NORWAY. 45 5 

was kneeling, and then intoned a service, in which there 
were no responses, except from the organ. Each communi- 
cant received, while kneeling, both bread and wine from the 
hands of the pastor. 

The service was very long, and it appeared longer to us 
who did not understand a word of the language used. But 
it was very affecting. There was so much earnestness and 
devotion in pastor and people ; they approached with such 
evident solemnity and becoming fear, and yet with such 
strong desire, and the venerable pastor, like a father in the, 
midst of his children, gave them the emblems of redeeming 
love with such gracious kindness of tone and manner that 
I was constrained to ask my companion what he thought of 
it, and he answered, " I should like to go and join them." 
This would not have been proper, as we were strangers to 
all present, and it may be that it would have been incon- 
sistent with their rules to receive us. But our hearts were 
with them, and we came away refreshed. We had been in 
communion with them, though they knew it not, and with 
our common Lord and Master, whose table in Norway is 
the same, and s])read with the same simple but delicious 
fare in the north as in the south. And when we all come, 
as we shall come, from the east and the west, and sit down 
with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of God, 
I hope to meet my Norway pastor and his people at the 
Supper of the Lamb. 

It made very plain to me the essential oneness of the 
church on earth. What did they, — these simple-hearted 
Christians in the heart of Norway, — what did they but 
testify their faith in Him whose sacrifice is their salvation ? 

It was pleasant to observe that the village was through- 
out the sabbath as quiet and orderly as any place in our 
own or any land could be. The scenery around it is pictur- 
esque and beautiful. Soml)re mountains, sweet valleys, 
romantic waterfalls, green hillsides, these are the natural 



45 6 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

features of this secluded region, where I came to get into 
the very heart of Norway, and spend a sabbath among the 
people. 

Cheap as living is in Sweden it is cheaper in Norway. 
In Lillehammer, — this pleasant village at the head of Lake 
Mjospn, in the midst of beautiful scenery, where a fire is a 
luxury in midsummer, and the windows of the cottages 
blossom with flowers, and the streams laugh loudly as they 
tumbled along among the hills, where the linen on the beds 
and the table is as white as the snow of the long winters, 
— here in Lillehammer I spent one day and two nights, and 
my hotel bill for five meals, two sleeps, and three rides, was 
three dollars of our money. That is cheap enough, I am 
sure; for the eating and sleeping and riding were just as 
good as you would get at Niagara Falls, where the prices 
are so high that the Falls appear low in comparison. 

Early in the morning we returned to the steamboat on 
the lake, to go back to Christiania. A young woman, a 
cripple, was brought in an arm-chair by two men, and 
tenderly placed on board. The care they seemed to take 
of her was touching, and her gentleness made me wish that 
I had the Norse language at command that I might learn 
something of life among the lowly and the suffering, in this 
part of the world. 

At Eidsvold we touched, and saw the people launching 
an iron steamer^ for lake navigation, of course, and it was 
new to me to see a vessel launched sideways. 

At Christiania a large party of Americans — and we were 
certainly in the midst of them — spent the afternoon in 
seeing the sights of the town, and riding about in the 
carioles of the country. A cariole is not a carry-all, for its 
capacity is to hold one, and no more. A boy may hang on 
behind to hold the little horse when you stop, but you ride 
alone and drive. Not much driving is required ; you take 
your seat in this low, uncovered, rattling, comfortless con- 



45^ ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

cern, and away goes the rat of a horse, tearing along Hke 
mad ; and as each person has to have a machine to himself, 
a dozen of them make a long string of vehicles, v^hich, 
dashing over the stones, create a sensation. Young ladies 
from America are fond of this . exciting exercise. It is 
almost equal to horseback riding. Some English ladies of 
title and wealth are making the tour of Norway this 
summer with no attendants, travelling only in the cariole. 
The government makes all needful provision for travellers 
that they may not be imposed upon by the post-keepers. 
Licensed houses are planted along the highways at intervals 
of about ten miles, where the keeper is obliged to keep a 
certain number of horses for hire, and if all are out, when a 
traveller comes he is required to get horses from his neigh- 
bors. You buy your cariole, — a cheap and miserable thing 
it is, — hire a bit of a horse, and are off. At the first post- 
house you leave your horse, take another, paying the legal 
price for its use, enter your name in a book with any com- 
plaint you may have to make of the treatment you have 
received, which the Government Inspector is to read when 
he comes in his regular tours. These post-houses could, at 
a pinch, give you something to eat and a place to sleep in ; 
and a few days and nights of travel in Norway will make 
fare and quarters tolerable, at which you might have slightly 
elevated your nose in Paris or Broadway. I have been in 
several countries and have passed some years in travel, but 
never spent twenty-four hours in my life without food con- 
venient for me, and a better place to sleep in than his who 
had not where to lay his head. 

So we set off from the tavern in the capital of Norway, 
in a dozen carioles, rushing amain down the rough streets 
and out into the country to Oscar Hall, and marvelled ex- 
ceedingly at the taste and beauty of its decorations within 
and without : nature adorned by art, in lovel}'' grounds 
about the house, and the views of the Fiord, the mountains 
ana plains. 



NORWAY. 459 

The castle of Agershaus commands magnificent views, 
and keeps in its strongholds the regalia of Norway and the 
records of its romantic history. Old guns, relics of an effete 
system of warfare, bear on their faces rude pictures in brass 
of barbarians in war. The old castle is a prison now. And 
if you suppose that it takes an Englishman or even a United- 
Statesman to make a cute rogue, just read the story of the 
Robin Hood of Norway. 

In the castle of Agershaus, in Christiania, in a cage of 
thick iron bars, is immured for life, Hoyland, the Robin 
Hood of Norway. His robberies were always confined to 
the upper classes, while his kindness and liberality to 
those in his own rank of life rendered him exceedingly pop- 
ular amongst them. His crimes never appear to have been 
accompanied with personal violence. He is a native of 
Christiansand, where he began his career. On being im- 
prisoned for some petty theft, he broke into the inspector's 
room, while he was at church, and stole his clothes ; these 
Hoyland dressed himself in and quietly walked Out of the 
town unobserved and unsuspected. He was subsequently 
repeatedly captured, and imprisoned in this castle, and often 
made his escape. On one occasion he was taken on board 
a vessel just leaving the Christiania Fiord for America. 
Previous to his escape, all descriptions of irons having been 
found useless, he was placed in solitary confinement in the 
strongest part of the basement of the citadel — his room 
was floored with very thick planks. Here he had been 
confined for several years, when one night the turnkey 
said to him, " Well, you are fixed at last, you will never get 
out of this, and you may as well promise us you will not 
attempt it." To this he only replied, ** It is your business 
to keep me here if you can, and mine to prevent your doing 
so if possible." The following day, when his cell was 
opened, the prisoner was gone, apparently without leaving 
a trace of the manner in which he had effected his escape. 



460 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

After a repeated and careful search, on removing his bed, 
it was found that he had cut through the thick planks of the 
flooring. On removing the planks cut away (and which 
he had replaced on leaving the cell) it appeared he had 
sunk a shaft, and formed a gallery under the wall of his 
prison — this enabled him to gain the court-yard, from 
which he easily reached the ramparts unseen, dropped into 
the ditch and got off. No trace of him could be found. 
About twelve months afterwards, the National Bank was 
robbed of 60,000 dollars, chiefly paper money, and in the 
most mysterious manner, there being no trace of violence 
upon the locks of the iron chest in which the money had 
been left, or upon those of the doors of the bank. Some 
time afterwards a petty theft was committed by a man who 
was taken and soon recognized to be Hoyland. He then 
disclosed how he had effected his last escape, which had 
taken him three years of steady patient labor to accomplish ; 
while others slept he was at work, and with a nail for his 
only tool. Having money concealed in the mountains he 
was sheltered in Christiania — -disguised himself — made 
acquaintance with the porter of the bank — gradually, with- 
out his knowledge, took impressions of the various locks — 
made keys for them — and thus committed the robbery 
before mentioned. He is said to carve beautifully in wood 
and stone, but is no longer allowed the use of tools. His 
sole occupation is knitting stockings with wooden pins. 
Twice during the day, while the other prisoners are not at 
work, he is allowed to leave his cell for air and exercise, 
and he occasionally gets the amusement of a chat with the 
governor, by writing to him that he will disclose where 
the rest of the bank money is concealed which he did not 
get rid of while at liberty. 

Then we rode on and took a look at the Asylum for the 
Deaf, and Dumb, and at the Home for the Aged, and at the 
Orphan Asylum, and at the Workhouse, and all these in- 



NORWAY. 



461 



stitutions had the appearance of being the fruit of intelli- 
gent philanthropy and Christian charity. 

Manufacturing villages were in the immediate vicinity of 
the city, with cotton and iron mills driven by water power, 
and every thing about them suggested thrift and comfort. 

We rode out to the oldest church of the city, and found 
in the adjoining cemetery the grave of Bradshaw, whose 
guide everybody carries and ncbody understands. I thought 
he was living and working in London, but it seems that 
several years ago he came up here, with one of his own 
guides, and found a grave. 




462 



ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 




CHAPTER XXXVIII. 



DENMARK. 



"XT ?"£ are coming down to Denmark. Down from Ndr- 
^ ^ way and along the coast of Sweden. First through 
the Skagerack and then the Cattegat, in the steamer Ex- 
cellent Toll, by name, with twenty American passen- 
gers. Fleets of sailing vessels were in sight, the crews 
engaged in the mackerel fishery, a great business off this 
coast. The day was as lovely as the suns of Italy ever 
show, and the sunset revealed such splendors as I never 
saw except in Mantua, under Italian skies. 

The sun went down as if into the western ocean, where 
poets often tell us he " quenches his beams." A few clouds 
were lying along the horizon, in long rifts stretching a quar- 
ter of the way around the great circle of the heavens. 



DENMARK. 463 

They were burnished with golden splendors, and among 
the rifts the sky seemed painted with the hues of the rain- 
bow. The passengers stood on the upper deck, and all 
were in raptures of admiration gazing upon the mag- 
nificent scene. Long after the sun was gone the great 
picture hung on the northern sky, and we watched it till 
the many-colored painting gradually and finally faded into 
the sombre tints of evening. The moon then gave us 
silver for gold, and for some hours after sunset it looked 
as though the sun were rising ! 

We passed the night on this voyage, touching at Got- 
tenberg at midnight, for an hour only. The next day (July 
10) was equally brilliant with the first, and the run along 
down the coast was exciting and pleasant. About midday 
we entered the Sound and soon came to Elsinore, where 
we had no Sound duties to pay. From time immemorial 
— so long that the date of the origin of the custom is lost 
in the fogs of the region — the Danes have been accus- 
tomed to demand and receive toll from every vessel passing 
Elsinore. No end of trouble was the result of this. The 
Vienna treaty of 1815, after Napoleon's downfall, confirmed 
the Danes in their enjoyment of this imposition. Some 
nations afterwards commuted with Denmark, and the whole 
thing was abolished in 1857. 

In the time of Tycho Brahe, the famous astronomer, whose 
house we saw on one of the lakes in Sweden as we were 
going to Upsala, the Danes built a mighty castle here, 
called Kronborg, and mounted big guns, so as to sweep 
the Sound and make it very desirable for vessels to stop as 
they were going by and pay their toll. If they refused to 
do so they were spoken to by these guns. And sometimes 
it was a. word and a blow. This castle is famous in the 
legends and history of Denmark, and within the last hun- 
dred years it has held distinguished and royal prisoners, 
who have exchanged dungeons for the scaffold. Down in 



464 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

the subterranean casemates a thousand men may be stored 
away — soldiers to defend the castle, or prisoners to pine in 
captivity. In one of these secret hiding places, where 
neither light nor pity finds its way, a noted mythical 
giant of Danish story is said to reside. He never comes 
up to the surface of the earth, but when the State is in 
danger, and then he takes the head of the army and leads 
it on to victory. His grasp is so strong that his fingers 
leave their imprint on an iron crowbar when he holds it in 
his fist. 

The views from the castle and from any of the elevations 
in Elsinore embrace the town, the fortifications, Helsing- 
borg on the other side of the Sound, the Great Belt, the 
Baltic dotted with sails, — a grand panorama indeed. 

Shakespeare was kind enough to make this vicinity clas- 
sic and famous by his Hamlet, whose grave is said to be 
here, and travellers come to find it, as they look for Ro- 
meo and Juliet's at Verona. In vain we are told that 
Hamlet did not live nor die in these parts ; that Jutland 
and not Zealand, was his country. But they pay their 
money and they take their choice, and most of people 
choose to believe that Hamlet was buried hereabouts, and 
any heap of stones with Runic characters upon them 
would answer the purpose, but they cannot find even 
this. Drop the letter H and we have Amlet, and that 
signifies madman^ and so you have the beginning of the 
story on which the tragedy was founded. And the story 
runs in this wise in the gossipy guide-books, so useful to 
travellers, and especially to those who have to write about 
their travels. 

According to the Danish history of old Saxo Grammat- 
icus, Hamlet was not the son of a Danish king, but of a 
famous pirate-chief, who was governor of Jutland in con- 
junction with his brother. Hamlet's father married the 
daughter of the Danish king, and the issue of that mar- 



DENMARK. 465 

riage was Hamlet. Hamlet's father was subsequently 
murdered by his brother, who married the widow and suc- 
ceeded to the government of the whole of Jutland. As a 
pagan, it was Hamlet's first duty to avenge his father. The 
better to conceal his purpose, he feigned madness. His 
uncle, suspecting it to be feigned, sent him to England, 
with a request to the king that he would put Hamlet to 
death. He was accompanied by two creatures of his 
uncle, whose letter to the English king was carved upon 
wood, according to the custom of the period. This Ham- 
let during the voyage contrived to get possession of, and 
so altered the characters as to make it a request that his 
two companions should be slain, and which was accord- 
ingly done on their arrival in England. He afterwards 
married the daughter of the English king : but subse- 
quently returning to Jutland, and still feigning madness, 
contrived to surprise and slay his uncle, after upbraiding 
him with his various crimes. Hamlet then became gov-' 
ernor of Jutland, married a second time to a queen of 
Scotland, and was eventually killed in battle. 

I wish we could stop at Frederiksborg, but we must 
come back to it from Copenhagen. For here is the royal 
castle of Denmark, built in 1600, and now the repository 
of works of art and objects of antiquarian interest con- 
nected with the reigning house. It was in this castle that 
the unfortunate queen of Christian VH. died at the early 
age of twenty-three, a broken-hearted victim of slander and 
conspiracy. In one of the private rooms in which this 
beautiful woman was a prisoner, she wrote with a diamond 
upon the window pane this touching and self-sacrificing 
prayer : — 

"0 keep me innocent, make others great." 

The woodland scenery around the castle is charming. 
The Royal Forest covers a vast extent laid out with lovely 

30 



466 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

walks and drives, and the whole island of Zealand \'& pre- 
served for royal pleasures in forest and field. 

A drive through this forest brings you to the Castle of 
Peace, so called because a treaty of peace was concluded in 
it with Sweden; and perhaps it keeps its name the more 
fittingly, as the palace is now cut up into apartments which 
are occupied by families, once rich, now poor, belonging to 
the aristocracy. They find it yery convenient to live in a 
palace free of rent, and as the neighbors are all in the 
same condition with themselves, they are not mortified by 
the fact that they are dependents of the State. We would 
call such a place the royal poor-house. In England, the 
splendid palace at Hampton Court, which Cromwell built 
and gave to his king for fear he would take it without, is 
used for decayed families of the British aristocracy, who 
live genteelly in kings' houses at very little expense. 

Denmark is not one of the great countries of the earth, 
but very far from being least among the kingdoms. It has 
a history, and a future too, civilization, religion, science, 
art, and enterprise. It made a fine show at Paris in the 
World's Industrial Exhibition, and has no reason to be 
ashamed of her agriculture, manufactures, ?ind fish. I was 
surprised to notice in the fields so many of the productions 
common in the northern States of America. A kitchen 
garden looked homelike, with its pease and beans and cab- 
bage and potatoes and turnips, and all the ordinary vegeta- 
bles cultivated in the same way with our own ; and the 
crops on the broader farms, wheat and rye and oats ; so 
that the children, playing the games of the country and 
singing as they played, were doubtless familiar with the 
farmers' song, — 

"Oats, pease, beans, and barley grow.'* 

Let us study the history of Denmark for a moment. 
Time was when Denmark was the ruling power in Scan- 



DENMARK. 46/ 

dinavia, which name includes her and Norway and Sweden. 
Time was when Denmark conquered all England, and 
Sweyn I., the king of Denmark, was on the throne that the 
Georges and Victoria have since filled. . Canute the 
Great was also king of Denmark and England, and a line 
of kings after him swayed the same double sceptre. This 
was when the Christian era was in the looo's, and perhaps 
Denmark has never had a more illustrious period of history 
than in the first part of the eleventh century. Then 
England and all the north, with part of Prussia, were 
under her crown. 

She fell. And not by the superior prowess of any rival 
foreign prince, but through the treachery and violence of 
one of her own subjects. Those were turbulent times 
doubtless, and it is wonderful that the mighty monarch of 
such a kingdom could be seized, as Valdemar 11. was (by 
one of his own subjects) while he and his son were hunting 
in the woods, carried on board a sloop and off to a foreign 
castle and immured in prison for three years. The proud- 
est king in Europe was thus insulted and bearded and 
degraded, while Europe looked on without raising a hand 
to deliver him. At length the Pope threatened, and one 
word from him did what the kings of the earth could not. 
Valdemar was released and restored, but his prestige was 
destroyed and he never recovered from the effects of his 
fall. Provinces revolted and became independent. Eng- 
land set up for herself again. In 1387, Queen Margaret 
came to the throne of Denmark and Norway, and subdued 
Sweden. For a hundred years the three Scandinavian 
countries were under the same government. In 1448, the 
king of Denmark died, and for a whole century no male 
heir was left by any sovereign for the throne. Then the 
German dynasty came in, and the Duchy of Schleswig 
was united with Holstein, which was annexed to Denmark 
under Christian I. . There begins that Schleswig-Holstein 



4^8 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

question, which bothered Europe and has pkinged the 
country into war even in our day. The very next king, 
Christian IL, lost Sweden ; and then Denmark became a 
httle monarchy, all by itself, which you will find embracing 
a peninsula and several islands on the north-west coast of 
Europe. 

England and Denmark have been good friends notwith- 
standing the unpleasant relations that once existed. Three 
or four times the royal families have intermarried, and the 
Prince of Wales of the present day depends far more on 
the popularity in England of his Danish wife, than on any 
merits of his own for his future success on the British 
throne. These pleasant relations were disturbed in the 
early part of the present century when the British de- 
stroyed the Danish fleet and commerce; and, since that 
time, Denmark has cultivated the arts of peace, making 
for herself a name better than the glory of arms or 
extent of territory. 

Christianity fought with paganism in Denmark during 
the eighth and ninth centuries ; and, after a terrible struggle, 
triumphed over Thor and Odin, whose superstitious power 
is still felt in the minds of the more ignorant of the people. 
Then the Romish religion reigned, until the Luther 
reformation came with healing in its beams, and Protest- 
antism became the religion of Denmark. The Lutheran 
form of worship is established, but, under the constitution, 
toleration is enjoyed. 

In no one department of public interest have I been more 
pleased to be disappointed, than in the general intelligence 
prevailing among the people of these northern countries of 
Europe. They are Protestants, and, therefore, knowledge 
is diffused ; the people wishing it, and the government 
encouraging it. No Roman Catholic government favors 
free schools and the universal elevation of the people. The 
Danes have a school in every parish,, and every child is 



DENMARK. 



469 



obliged to go to school and learn to read and write. There 
are higher grades of schools in -all the towns, and two uni- 
versities, — one at Copenhagen and one at Kiel. Thus the 




A DoftlHSTIC SCliNE IN DENMARK. 



means of education being brought within the reach of the 
humblest, the whole country is enlightened. 



470 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

The women are good-looking, and in this matter there 
are national peculiarities worth noticing. At a fair or 
public entertainment, where men and women of the working 
classes are brought together in great numbers, the women 
of Denmark will be pronounced above the average for good 
looks, and, perhaps, the same thing would not be said of the 
men. 

Copenhagen is the capital of Denmark, and the capital of 
Copenhagen is Thorvaldsen's Museum. Copenhagen has 
other and many attactions, but this museum is the crown 
and glory of Denmark. Art has her victories, and those of 
war are not so enduring in their glory as the fruits of genius 
and peace. Here in this ancient and beautiful city, in 1770, 
— a hundred years, save one, ago, — was born Albert Thor- 
valdsen, the son of an Iceland ship-carpenter. Poor, obscure, 
and friendless, but inspired with the genius of his future 
art, the boy made his own way to Rome. He found em- 
ployment in the studio of Can ova, and his talents soon 
commanded respect. But he lacked the aid of a patron and 
friend, and he was about to abandon Italy in despair, when 
an English banker, by the auspicious name of Hope, appre- 
ciated the artist, ordered a marble statue of Jason, which 
was standing in the clay, and from that glad hour his career 
was onward and brilliant, till he attained wealth and fame 
unsurpassed by any sculptor of ancient or modern times. 
He loved his native Scandinavian climes, and often visited 
the city of his birth, which he enriched with the noblest 
creations of his marvellous hand. But he dwelt irt Rome, 
unmarried, save to his art ; and when he returned, at the 
age of sixty-eight, to Copenhagen, he was received as a 
conqueror, was domiciled in the palace, and, six years after- 
wards, died in the midst of the lamentations of the people, 
who loved him and whom he loved. 

As he made the people the heir of his glorious works — 
in large part the models of the statuary he had executed for 



DENMARK. 



471 



kings and nations and wealthy individuals — it was resolved 
to erect a monument to his name, which should be at once 
a museum of his creations and a mausoleum for his remains. 
In the midst of the city, and on an open square, a building 
— a vast parallelogram with a court-yard in the centre of 




Facade of the Thorvaldsen Museum, Copenhagen. 



it — has been reared ; the successive stories filled with 
the productions of the genius of this one man, including 
the minutest specimens, up to the model of his *' Christ," the 
highest achievement of his, not to say of human, art. In the 
midst of the little court-yard, surrounded on its four sides 
by the walls of this museum, so that every window on the 
inner side looks down into the court, there lie in solemn 
and sublime repose the ashes and bones of the man who 
made all these things ! It is silent ; but oh ! how eloquent 
the lesson of the greatness and the vanity of genius ! It 
is something, it is a grand thing, to have made all these 
marbles for the joy and instruction of mankind ; and it is 
sweet to die with the consciousness of leaving for after 
generations the works that shall teach them lessons of 
virtue and strength and beauty. But to die and leave them 



472 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

all ! To lie and moulder in the midst of them ! To be 
rotting while even the clay that one's fingers moulded into 
life-like shapes is admired — this makes the cup of life 
an insipid draught, and the wise man cries it is vanity, all 
vanity, after all. Yet not so vain after all ! No man liveth 
unto himself ; and one would gladly take the pay that a 
good, great man gets, who adds to the material wealth of 
the world the glorious creations of art for all time to come, 
and then dies in the midst of them. It is more also to be 
useful than to be great ; and he who lives to make others 
happy, though not an artist in stone or oil, lives to a noble 
purpose, and his mausoleum is in the hearts made glad by 
his kindness while he lived. 

On the outside of this museum the walls are covered 
with fresco paintings illustrating the mechanical processes 
by which the statuary was brought to its place. This is the 
antique Grecian, and even Egyptian, idea of celebrating an 
historical event. It might be called Thorvaldsen's triumph. 
Within the frieze of the grand hall is the triumph of Alex- 
ander the Great. The Hall of Christ contains the casts of 
the Saviour and all his disciples — that wondrous group 
which in marble illuminates the chief church in Copen- 
hagen. And as we ascend from floor to floor, and pass 
through successive chambers — all of them filled with the 
handiwork of the same great artist who sleeps in sight of 
every window — one is filled with admiring awe, while 
charmed v/ith the beauty of the design and execution. 
Beauty is not the word, though much here is very beau- 
tiful. Thorvaldsen was one of the first to appreciate and 
encourage our own sculptor Powers, whose works are more 
beautiful than the Dane's. Strength, majesty, power — 
these are the attributes that cover as with a garment the 
face, the head, the hmbs of the heroes whom Thorvaldsen 
by his magic chisel turned into stone. The divine is re- 
vealed in his conception of the Redeemer of men. The 



DENMARK. 



473 



god-like is in Moses and Peter and John the Baptist ; and 
his ancient heroes are inspired with a sentiment that is 
easily drawn from the mythology of Scandinavia, in which 
the worship of Thor and Odin seems to be incorporated 
ineffaceably. 




Portrait of Thorvaldsen. (By Horace Vertiet.) 

Away in the farthest corner of the museum is a collection 
of gems and bronzes and vases and coins and antique sculp- 
ture, which his taste and money had gathered in Italy. Here 
is the furniture of his sitting-room as it was the day he 
died, and here is a cast of Luther, which on that day of 
his death he had begun to work ! Here are sketches he 
had made with pen and pencil, the dawn of his gigantic 
conceptions, afterwards made perfect in marble — now in- 
teresting as the outlines we have of the first thoughts of 
Raphael and Michael Angelo and others on their immortal 
works ! 

Never was an artist so honored by his countrymen ; 
never was one's fame more precious in the memory of his 



474 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

fellow-men. And I may easily convey to you an impression 
of the reverence in which he is held by saying that Thor- 
VALDSEN is to-day in Denmark what in our country is the 
name of Washington. 

Vor Frue Kirke, the Notre Dame^ the Church of our 
Lady, is the royal church — the Cathedral of Copenhagen. 

I worshipped there yesterday ; and of all the days in the 
year, and of all the churches in Europe, not one could have 
been selected more crowded with interest to a traveller 
whose tastes flow in the channels of religion and art. 

For as I came to it there were standing on one side of 
the portal a statue of David, and on the other one of 
Moses, in bronze, both of them by the hand of Thorvald- 
sen, and sublime with the inspiration of his power. I stood 
a few moments before them, and thought of the royal poet 
and the inspired law-giver, and wondered at the art which 
could embody and express their spirit and mission with 
such silent eloquence. And then I entered the church it- 
self, and it was all ablaze, not with five thousand candles, 
as I had seen at St. Peter's at noonday, not with flaring 
gaslights, nor even the glorious sunlight alone, but with the 
greatest of modern statues, the Christ in marble, standing 
over the altar, and the twelve apostles, six on one hand and 
six on the other, along the sides of the house (Paul being 
put in the place of Iscariot), and all by the hand of the 
same master. Thorvaldsen chose this sanctuary as the 
place to be made beautiful and glorious with his works, — 
his triumphs. The Saviour is represented with extended 
arms, as if he were saying the sweetest of all his words, 
" Come unto me," and on the face of his disciples rests the 
expression that sacred art might desire to present as char- 
acteristic of each one of the chosen group. In the middle 
of the chancel a marble angel, of loveliness unspeakable, 
is kneeling and holding in his hands a shell, which is the 
font for baptism. Copies of this are multiplied till the 
world is familiar with it. Near the door is a group repre- 



DENMARK, 4/5 

senting a child walking with his face heaven^vard, and an 
angel follows, pointing with his finger over the child's head. 
And on the other side of the door is a Mother's Love in 
marble. 

Those who worship here from day to day become famil- 
iar with all this sculpture, and are not distracted, if they are 
not aided by the beauty and the majesty of such a wealth 
of art. But a stranger within the gates, for a morning 
only, seeing it all at once for the first and the last time, 
would find it difficult to withdraw his soul from the marble 
and contemplate for an hour the unseen and eternal. 
And this would be more difficult when the worshipper is 
unable to understand a word of the service. 

The church was full of people, going out and coming in, 
as in Romish churches. The officiating minister had on a 
white robe, ruffles, and red mantle, with a broad gilt cross 
on his back. He stood before the altar, on which was an 
image of the crucifixion, and two candles four feet high, 
and burning. After a brief service and sermon, he admin- 
istered the sacrament of the Lord's supper to a few who 
remained to receive it, kneeling ; he gave them the bread, 
with a few words to each, and an assistant followed, putting 
the cup to the lips of the communicant. The formalities 
of the ceremony, the tones of the priest, the tergiversa- 
tions, the responses of the choir, &c., were similar to the 
forms in use in the Church of Rome. 

When this sacrament was concluded, I was about leav- 
ing the house, which was now nearly deserted, when I 
noticed something going on in the chancel. Twenty 
mothers, each with a babe in her arms, and a female 
attendant, entered and arranged themselves in a large 
circle around the kneeling marble angel holding the bap- 
tismal font. Twenty women, twenty babes, twenty female 
friends, not nurses, but god-mothers ; not a man appeared. 
It was a beautiful spectacle ; perhaps it would be impossi- 
ble to invent a more lovely tableaux. The mothers, the 



47^ ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

infants, the friends, all clothed in white, all before the altar 
in a circle, in the midst of which was this white angel 
kneeling, and above the whole the finest statue on earth 
of Jesus, with open arms, as when he said, " Suffer little 
little children to come unto me." 

The priest read a form of baptism, and then, passing 
around the circle, made the sign of the cross on the face 
of each child ; he then read again ; again he went to each 
child, and laid his hand upon its head as if in blessing : 
then he read again. The service was now so protracted 
that the mothers were allowed to sit down, and then, one 
by one, each came up with the attendant, and, the cap 
being removed, the babe was held over the font, the priest 
took water and poured it three times from his hand upon 
the head of the child, pronouncing its name and that of the 
Triune God. 

This being concluded, and as I was coming out of the 
church, a carriage arrived with an elegantly dressed lady 
and her attendant with a babe, to be baptized after the 
people of the humbler class had received the sacrament. 
Alas ! I said to myself, is aristocracy in religion the same 
everywhere ? — and cannot the noble of this world be 
humble before God ? So I would not return to the bap- 
tism of this " better born " infant, but went on my way 
praying that all alike might be washed in the blood of 
Christ, and made children of the kingdom. 

It will surprise you — it certainly did me — to find that 
the people of these northern countries of Europe give far 
more time to mere amusements than the Americans do. I 
was struck with this on coming to Sweden, and saw some- 
thing of it, but not so much in Norway ; and here in Co- 
penhagen they are as much given to it as the Athenians 
were to news. 

Perhaps the French and Italians are more disposed to 
make themselves merry in crowds. But on recalling the 
habits of the masses as they are seen in public places in 



DENMARK. 477 

Paris and Florence, I think that I was never in any city in 
the world where so many people in proportion to the whole 
number go from home to be amused. On the outskirts of 
the city — but not so far away as to be difficult of access 
— there are large gardens, so called, laid off with walks 
and shrubbery and fountains, and in the midst are all sorts of 
spectacular games and plays, combining in one enclosure 
theatre, circus, gymnastics, music and dancing, concerts, 
orations, and whatever is usually found scattered in differ- 
ent parts of a city, and to be visited only after paying a fee 
for each admission. To enter this garden — for one is a 
type of many — you pay about ten cents, and that gives 
you the entree to nearly all the shows. The theatre may 
charge another trifling fee, but the one admission makes all 
these amusements open to the visitor. Around every stage 
are little tables and chairs, and refreshments are served, 
if you choose to call for them, at an extra charge. To such 
places as this thousands upon thousands of respectable peo- 
ple resort night after night, usually coming before dark^ for 
the days are long and nights short ; men bring their 
wives and children, and take their evening meal together 
in little stalls provided for the purpose, and go home in 
good season. This is their refreshment after a day of toil, 
and it is not unlikely that it helps them to bear with pa- 
tience the burdens of a working life. 

These gardens are the institutions of Copenhagen, for 
the entertainment of the people. They are cheap, so as to 
be within the reach of all ; and they are cheap, as one of 
the proprietors told me, because low prices bring more 
money than high. Doubtless there are other and more 
intellectual enjoyments provided for those who prefer 
them ; but when you consider the enormous expense in- 
curred to fit up and furnish every night such entertain- 
ments as these, you see it requires the attendance of many 
thousands, at the insignificant charge, to make thpm pay 
at all. 



47S ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

On certain days, the Royal Picture Galleries and Thor- 
valdsen's Museum are thrown open to the people, and the 
throngs of working people, evidently in very humble life, 
as their dress and manner indicate, who pack the halls and 
rooms, show that the people have also a taste for something 
higher and better than plays. Something might be said of 
the effect of so much amusement upon the morals of the 
masses ; but it is not safe for a transient visitor to speak 
with certainty of any thing but what he actually sees as he 
goes along. To me it is a pleasant, and only a pleasant 
reflection, that the people in these northern countries, who 
do not accomplish much beyond making a decent subsist- 
ence from year to year, find both time and money to spend 
in amusements that are not in themselves as demoralizing 
as the sensual and intoxicating pleasures which so many of 
our own poor pursue to their ruin. 

You would have to go far and search long before you 
would find a more interesting museum than that of North- 
ern Antiquities, which occupies part of the Christians- 
borg Palace. This northern country abounds in curious 
relics of past ages, defunct systems of religious worship, 
modes of warfare now wholly unknown ; and by law al] 
these remains, wherever found, belong to the crown. In 
every parish in Denmark the minister is made the agent 
of government, to have every thing discovered, and that 
promises to be of any interest, sent to the museum, where 
a fair price is paid for it to the finder. 

There is scarcely an end to the number and variety of 
these curious objects, illustrating the manners and customs 
of the long-buried past. Weapons of war form the most 
conspicuous feature of such an exhibition, and stone is the 
material from which the most formidable are made ; clubs 
and axes, arrow-heads of flint, chisels and knives m^ost sin- 
gularly and beautifully wrought ; urns from ancient sepul- 
chres, with bones of other animals than human, are here ; 
and tradition tells us that the old Norse heroes were buried 



DENMARK. 479 

with their dogs and horses, to bear them company in the 
world of spirits. It is hard to say what part in the funeral 
rites a sieve could perform, but it is often found in the 
ancient tombs. 

The Runic monuments are the most remarkable objects 
in the collection ; and the one that has excited the closest 
scrutiny came from Greenland, in latitude 73, and is said to 
bear a date 1135. 

Among the fire-arms of the earliest years of their use, 
we have old cannons to be loaded at the • breech, and guns 
on the revolving principle, though we have been in the 
habit of thinking that both of these are inventions of our 
own times. 

Besides these collections, there is the Royal Arsenal, and 
the Museum of Natural History, and the Royal Museum, 
and many others, which are but the repetition and exten- 
sion of these and like objects of interest, — interesting, 
indeed, to look at for a few hours, tiresome after a while ; 
and I will not weary you with the details. 

Setting off by rail from Copenhagen to Hamburg, I en- 
countered a gentleman who claimed to be a countrym.an of 
mine, because he hailed from South America. He was 
German born, in England bred, and he went to Uruguay, 
S. A., where he had been twenty-four years in business. 
He was now travelling with his family in the North of 
Europe. He was a shipping-merchant, and vessels in 
which he was interested come from Hamburg and Havre 
and England with furniture, tin-ware, and a thousand man- 
ufactured articles, and carry away hides, tallow, and so forth. 
It was easy to see that he had an eye to business in the 
midst of his pleasure travel, and that he was learning what 
wants of the North of Europe could be suppHed from the 
South of America. My conversation with him developed 
the beautiful relations oi the different parts of the earth to 
each other : the climate, the soil, the position of one coun- 
try supplementing another, and showing that no country 



48o 



ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 



" liveth unto itself " any more than a man lives to himself. 
There is a thorough mutual dependence running through 
society and the whole world. 




Hamburg. 

Our rail ride was across the island of Zealand — flat, poor, 
wet, cold soil ; the peasants' houses were low, of stone, and 
thatched. The windows were so few and small, they must 
be ill ventilated, and probably unwholesome. Mustard was 



DENMARK. 48 1 

growing in large quantities, fields of rye were fair, and 
grass was looking well. Cattle abounded in the meadows, 
— not on the hills, for those were not in sight. 

At ten o'clock at night, and while it was yet light, we 
reached the steamer at Corseow. It was a large, commo- 
dious, and well-furnished vessel, excepting that it had no 
state-rooms. The berths were good, but were all in one 
open cabin. The decks were crowded with live-stock, — 
pigs, calves, cows, — whose squeals, bleating, and moaning 
were to be our serenade till the morning light. A bounti- 
ful supper was served, — tea and coffee, meats, eggs, &c., — 
and the charge for the whole was twenty-seven cents ! And 
this being over, I spent the livelong night fighting, not 
wild beasts, nor the tame ones overhead, but those pester- 
ing fleas, which seem to be one of the pet annoyances of 
the travelling world. 

We arrived at Kiel very early in the morning, and went 
ashore through mud and rain; and the only way to ride 
was on the outside of an omnibus, to the railroad station. 
This is a famous seaport, and like all other seaports, so that 
Kiel will not have a sketch. We make no stay, but by rail 
set off for Hamburg. Wheat and rye and buckwheat cover 
the fields. Little Indian corn is raised in these countries, 
where the soil and climate are as well suited to it as parts 
of our country where it flourishes. The gardens are filled 
with the same vegetables as our own, — potatoes, pease, 
beans, lettuce, radishes, beets, carrots, cauliflower, cabbage, 
— making it pleasant to know that the good things at home 
are just as abundant here. The flowers, too, — roses and , 
lilies and lilacs, others wild, and cultivated, — make the 
wayside and the court-yards of the humble dwellings smile. 
All the fields of grass and grain are ridged, and a ditch is 
made about every twenty feet for a drain. Small tiles are 
used for underground draining. Few evidences appear of 
high cultivation ; very little attention is paid to scientific 

31 



40 2 ALHAMBRA AND KREMLIN. 

preparation of manures, which might greatly enhance the 
value of the land. 

At Elmshorn, — a very pretty village where we stopped 
a few moments, and large numbers of people gathered about 
the train, as if they were quite at leisure, — old women 
brought baskets of strawberries and cherries to the cars 
for sale ; as large and of as fine a flavor, and of such vari- 
eties as were quite famihar to the eye and taste. 

The train moves slowly on, and the spires of Hamburg 
appear in the distance. We are now fairly out of Scandi- 
navia. With hearts full of thanksgiving to Him who has 
safely led us through our journey, we turn away from the 
land of Odin and Thor, and in a few weeks are 




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